An alert FrontBurnervian points us to this story in the Lewisville Texan Journal from a few days back about an upcoming auction for the right to drill for gas under Lewisville Lake. The Bureau of Land Management will sell a 10-year mineral rights lease in Santa Fe on April 20. If you think that some folks question the wisdom of drilling under a lake with a bad dam, a lake that Dallas uses for drinking water, then you’d be right. From the Lewisville Texan Journal:

Lewisville Lake has been the subject of recent news reports including the LTJ regarding dam deficiencies. [Wendy Park, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity] is concerned that the fracking process for horizontal wells under the lake could cause increased seismic activity — a concern echoed by [Rita Beving, of the Clean Water Fund]. She worries that either fracking, or any possible wastewater disposal that might occur in the vicinity could weaken the dam and cause a breach. The Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter echoed the concerns of the others. Cyrus Reed, the group’s conservation director, emphasized his concerns about water contamination. He thinks contamination could happen if a well’s cementing or casing were to fail or if a spill were to occur.

The public has until February 19 to file a protest with the Bureau of Land Management. That has to be done either by fax (!) or snail mail. Here’s how.