Image of Barnett Shale gas fracking
We fought it before under Obama’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and now it is back under Trump’s. Only this time, we’re in the middle of a global health crisis and with very little time to put together comments to Trump’s BLM.
But that won’t stop us from submitting our own comments.
Back in 2016, the Lone Star Chapter joined a number of cities and water utilities in North and Central Texas concerned about the Obama Administration’s Bureau of Land Management’s proposals to allow leasing of lands under reservoirs in Texas, as well as in national forests for oil and gas development. Thousands of individuals commented and many formally protested the proposals to take Texas’ public lands and use them to increase directional drilling. Fortunately, other than a few leases, the majority were scrapped as the previous administration rethought their approach to leasing public lands. More recently, the Trump Administration came back to open up leasing in parts of Lake Somerville, and Choke Canyon Lake, which provides water to Corpus Christi.
And now similar scheme for two of the lakes has been proposed. BLM has released the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for its proposed oil and gas leasing below Lewisville Lake and Lake Somerville for their August 2020 lease auction, and it has determined that ( surprise!) there is a “Finding of No Significant Impact.” The cherry on top? At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, BLM is asking for comments only until May 15th if we disagree with their “finding.”
It is outrageous that BLM is going forward with this lease auction with such a short comment deadline and virtually no notice to the communities affected, when communities are focused on getting through the pandemic. Expansion of oil and gas drilling should be the last of the government’s priorities right now, especially given the collapse in oil and gas prices.
Sierra Club disagrees with this finding, and we will be putting together detailed reasons why over the coming days with many other allied organizations.
We are also reaching out to all the cities such as Denton, Brenham, Dallas, Corinth and many others that protested the 2016 proposal.
You can see BLM’s announcement for the lease sale here, which includes a link to the draft EA.
Here are some highlights about the proposed areas to be leased: 
Lake Lewisville parcel (water supply for Dallas) surrounded by towns of Corinth, Hickory Creek, Highland Village, and Copper Canyon
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There is one 76-acre parcel in Denton County, which overlaps Lake Lewisville and a local park (Pilot Knoll Park). Lewisville Lake is a drinking water supply for Dallas, Denton and surrounding cities.
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In 2016, BLM removed a proposed parcel within Lake Lewisville from its April 2016 lease auction in response to public protest, including objections by the City of Dallas Water Utilities and the City of Denton, plus over a dozen other municipalities.
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The Army Corps has listed Lewisville Lake as “the eighth-most-hazardous” dam in the country, but it’s unclear how close the parcel is to the dam. The EA does not address dam safety issues.
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The Lewisville Lake parcel is within a high-density residential area (while no surface occupancy is allowed on it, surface development would have to occur somewhere within a mile or two of the parcel, and the parcel could still be drilled and used for fracking.)
Lake Somerville parcels (water supply for Brenham)
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There are 6 parcels within or around Lake Somerville, totaling 427.47 acres. Some of the parcels overlap Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway, run by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Yegua Creek Park, which is run by the Army Corps of Engineers.
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In 2016 BLM removed over 1,400 acres of lease parcels around Lake Somerville from the April 2016 auction due to public outcry over leasing beneath water supply lakes and dams, but then re-offered and sold them in 2017 despite the objections of local residents.
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The City of Brenham passed a resolution objecting to the sale, in response to grassroots organizing by local residents, and the local group Texas Rural Voices.
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The parcels around Lake Somerville are adjacent to or very near residences (within a mile or less).
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The EA notes horizontal drilling and fracking would likely occur on these parcels. The Lake Somerville parcel is along the Eagle Ford shale, and the Lake Lewisville parcel is within the Barnett shale.
So what’s next?
Sierra Club will be working with our allies to get local residents and cities that depend upon these reservoirs for public water, fishing, swimming and outdoor recreation to comment. In addition to the current EA comment period, an official protest period will open in June and we will work to get cities, political leaders, and Sierra Club members to protest this outlandish attempt to open up fracking under our reservoirs!