Jump to content

Lake Boehmer

Coordinates: 31°13′25″N 102°43′44″W / 31.2237°N 102.72878°W / 31.2237; -102.72878
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Boehmer
Lake Boehmer is located in Texas
Lake Boehmer
Lake Boehmer
Lake Boehmer is located in the United States
Lake Boehmer
Lake Boehmer
LocationPecos County, Texas
Coordinates31°13′25″N 102°43′44″W / 31.2237°N 102.72878°W / 31.2237; -102.72878
Typereservoir
Etymologynamed after former landowner Bernard Boehmer

Lake Boehmer is an artificial lake in Pecos County, Texas.[1][2]

Area and water composition

[edit]

The lake has been slowly growing since 2003.[2] It covers an area of more than sixty acres and the water is three times as salty as seawater.[1][2] The casing in the well is corroded and the well hit a salt layer.[2] The sulfate level is twenty-five times the legal limit for drinking water.[1]

Origins

[edit]

In the 1940s or 1950s, oil wells were drilled near Imperial, Texas.[1] None of them produced oil, but water and the oil companies deeded them to landowners who used them to irrigate farms, but they have fallen into disuse.[3]

Name and ownership

[edit]

The lake is named after former landowner Bernard Boehmer.[1][2] The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation have tried to contact him via a registered letter to an address in Missouri, but it is not known if it reached him or if he replied.[1] The ownership of the lake wells is unclear.[1] There is also controversy as to where responsibility lies for cleanup and remediation.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gold, Russell (2021-12-08). "The Dead Sea of West Texas". Texas Monthly.
  2. ^ a b c d e Marks, Michael (2021-12-09). "A toxic lake grows unchecked in the West Texas desert". Texas Standard. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  3. ^ Jim Malewitz (2019-03-26). "ABANDONED TEXAS OIL WELLS SEEN AS "TICKING TIME BOMBS" OF CONTAMINATION". Retrieved 17 Jan 2022.

Houston Chronicle: Take the money and plug|https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-Take-the-money-and-plug-Texas-can-t-17709076.php