Derelict Boats a Problem on Coast

Reclaiming a coastal graveyard
Aug. 5, 2005, 5:16PM
An effort to clear junked vessels from area bays and bayous begins
By DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

SAN LEON - On the marshy fringes of Dickinson Bayou, the skeletons of dozens of boats pierce the water's surface.

Rusty masts jut skyward like spines, and the ruins of hulls lie on the floor of the waterway like drowned rib cages.

Farther downstream, decomposing barges, discarded by their owners, sit side-by-side like tombs.

This graveyard, or boneyard, as locals call it, is an extreme example of a problem that has plagued the Texas coast for decades - junked vessels.

The Texas General Land Office, charged with protecting the coasts, estimates that 393 abandoned shrimp boats, pleasure vessels and barges clutter the bayous, bays and shores of the Gulf. More than half of those are in Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties.

What is wrong with this picture? Why isn't this a felony? Who is lobbying our state legislature to prevent this from being so? Why does our state legislature insist on passing half measures? It's time to get tough.


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