Clear Lake residents and boaters have long been concerned about the hundreds of abandoned boats littering Clear Lake and surrounding bays, but while dozens of boats remain in Clear Lake, efforts to remove them have been slow.
Recently, the Texas Land Commissioner and the office of Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia partnered to remove a 24-foot sailboat near Clear Lake Park and pledged to remove more boats.
Why it matters
The Texas General Land Office, or GLO, and the commissioner’s office held the derelict-vessel removal event at the park May 28, according to a GLO news release.
Russel Lavigne, CEO of Dead Boats Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds to remove the boats, also attended the event.
While the GLO has the authority to remove abandoned boats in Texas coastal waters, the agency is not legally required to remove derelict vessels and doesn’t receive dedicated funding to remove and dispose of them, which can cost upwards of $1,500 per foot, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.
To fund the removals, the GLO partners with nonprofit organizations like the Dead Boats Society.
In February, Community Impact reported that the Dead Boats Society had removed seven boats to date.
“It’s cost us anywhere from on normal circumstances … anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000 to get some of these boats out of the water,” Lavigne previously told Community Impact.
Quote of note
“As someone who called the Texas coast my home for over a decade, the preservation of our coastal waters has been a top priority of mine since day one at the GLO,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in the release. “Responsibly disposing of unwanted vessels is vital to the safety and cleanliness of Texas waters as well as our unique marine wildlife.”
Stay tuned
Two additional boats are in the process of being removed and destroyed, according to the release.