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According to the TCEQ's Water Quality Inventory, all 3,879 square miles of the water along the gulf shoreline
in Texas's jurisdiction did not meet their designated water quality parameters in 2002. This was due to the issuance of a no-consumption advisory by the Texas Department of Health in June
1997
because of elevated mercury concentrations in large King mackerel. The advisory suggests to the public that any King mackarel longer than 43 inches should not be consumed. The TCEQ also assessed the Gulf waters for the aquatic life use in 1,438.6 square miles, contact recreation in 1,865.6 square miles and general uses in 1,438.6 square miles. In these areas, all the designated uses were fully supported.*271 However, in a number of the water quality parameters, there was not sufficient data to assess the quality of the ocean waters. For
example, no samples of metals, or organic substances in water were taken, nor was water toxicity or sediment toxicity assessed. No fish tissue was sampled beyond that needed to confirm the
problem of mercury in King mackarel. In addition,
neither the TDH nor the TCEQ assessed the oyster waters use for the 2002 inventory. In the 1996 Water Quality Inventory, a portion of the Gulf waters did not meet the oyster waters designation due to elevated fecal coliform in close proximity to Sabine Pass, Point Bolivar, and San Luis Pass. Local marinas and housing developments were believed to be the cause of the pollution.*
Ocean Spills
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OIL SPILLS IN COASTAL WATERS, FY 2002-03
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Source: Oil Spill and Clean-Up Division,
Texas General Land Office, September 11, 2003.
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More than 102,000 vessels cart some 250 million tons of cargo to Texas's largest ports each year, about 45
percent of which is petroleum- and oil-related.* Spills and dumping from these ships during transit are among the chief causes of both marine and beach debris.
Offshore oil rigs and other petroleum-industry activities result in the discharging of chemicals and oil into Texas coastal waters, further degrading their quality.
About a quarter of the nation's refining capacity and almost 65 percent of its petrochemical capacity are
located along 367 miles of Texas shoreline. In 1989 more than 115,000 tanker and barge transports carried some 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil, fuels, and other
petroleum products across Texas gulf waters.*
In the summer of 1990, the Norwegian tanker Mega Borg exploded, discharging 4.6 million gallons of crude
oil into the gulf. A collision between a tanker and a tank-barge in August 1990 caused some 700,000 gallons of oil to spill into Galveston Bay, blocking the Houston Ship Channel for days.*
In response to these spills, the Texas legislature in 1991 passed the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act. The act put
the GLO in charge of oil spills and established a clean-up fund, generated by a two-cent-per-barrel fee on all crude oil
being loaded or unloaded in Texas ports, to clean up "mystery spills" for which no responsible party can be identified.
In FY 2003, over $27.3 million was in the Coastal Protection Fund to help clean up these spills .*
Between FY 2002 and 2003, there were more than 1,650 responses by the GLO to individual oil spills in coastal waters,
more than a third of which were classified as mystery or unknown spills. In those same years, more than $400,000
from the Coastal Protection Fund was spent for state-funded cleanups of these spills.* The largest amount of funds
ever spent from the Coastal Protection Fund was used to respond to a single spill in March 1996, when more than
5,000 gallons of fuel oil were sprayed out into the Gulf of Mexico from a barge in Galveston Bay.*
The State of Texas holds title to four million acres of submerged land off the coast, which can be leased for oil and gas
activity. In 1993, 11 rigs were operating in state waters offshore, two were operating in inshore waters, and another 227 on state land.* Oil and gas production on federal waters is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The
central and western gulf off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana has one of the highest rates of oil and gas production in the world.
Ocean Dumping
Improperly disposed waste in gulf waters is a major threat to marine mammals, birds, and other aquatic life. Waste
materials thrown off of ships that transport wastes often entangle, maim, and kill these aquatic creatures. Fish and
marine mammals often eat synthetic materials, which then enters the food chain. Finally, this debris accumulates on the Texas coast, affecting both tourism and estuarine habitats.
To address this beach debris problem, the Gulf of Mexico has been established as a special area under the international
MARPOL treaty, which regulates marine pollution around the world. Under the treaty, the dumping of solid wastes by
any boat from any nation is prohibited in a special area. Thus, only food that has been reduced to particles can be dumped legally in the Gulf of Mexico.
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