For Immediate Release
Contact: Tiffany Heikkila or Catherine Rogan
713-752-1900

HOUSTON (Dec. 12, 2002) - The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) knows how to make an impact. Economically, it ranks first in the United States in foreign waterborne commerce, generates $10.9 billion in annual revenue and has created almost 300,000 jobs in Texas--more than 700,000 jobs nationwide. But the Port's ability to successfully link its business operations with environmental improvements is making an even greater impact in Galveston Bay.

While the Port has long been environmentally conscious, it was a quest to increase business, by making the ship channel accessible to larger vessels, that catapulted it into the largest wetland construction effort of its kind in the United States. With co-sponsorship from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and guidance from a coalition government agencies called the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG), the Port will create 4,250 acres of wetland habitat and add other environmental features to Galveston Bay over the next 50 years.

"The Port's continuing goal is to contribute to and enhance Houston and the surrounding area, and our environmental project accomplishes this mission," said James (Jim) Edmonds, chairman of the PHA Commissioners. "Projects such as this one, which not only profit businesses, but also aid the wetlands and wildlife habitat, show that business and the environment are not mutually exclusive. In this situation, helping the environment is also great for the continuance of business."

Although nearly 7,000 ships carrying 194 million tons of cargo called on the Port in 2001, the PHA had to accommodate larger deep-water vessels to entice the biggest businesses to Houston's port. The Port planned to deepen the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel (HGNC) by 5 feet and widen it by 130 feet (for a total depth of 45 feet and width of 530 feet), by extracting silt and clay dredge from the ship-channel floor. But while expanding the channel was a seemingly simple concept, advantageously utilizing millions of cubic yards of dredge material was not .

The PHA and the Corps worked together to find a method to use the material through the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG), which was created to determine environmentally agreeable ways to use virtually all of the dredge material over the next 50 years. Based on substantial research and input from the community, the BUG proposed the creation of 4,250 acres of wetlands and other wildlife habitat.

With no models to base the unprecedented construction on, BUG members created a 220-acre Gorini Marsh on which to base future development. Although successfully completed seven years ago, the marsh will continue to serve as a living laboratory for scientists and engineers until the project is complete in 2050.

Since the HGNC expansion began producing dredge less than three years ago, the project has been very successful. With the Gorini Marsh already thriving, the additional wetlands have increased vitality in the bay. Native birds have found mecca on the newly created Evia Island, a six-acre island built exclusively for birds as part of the BUG plan, as well as on the new Atkinson Island Marsh and other levees. The ecological significance of these man-made islands and marshes is tremendous; they offer virtually the only remaining protected nesting for many rare shore birds, whose habitats have been disturbed by increased urbanization of coastal areas. Hundreds of colonial waterbirds, such as brown pelicans, black skimmers and a variety of terns, have found a new home at the new marshes and islands.

The project and utilization of dredge material for environmental features has become a win-win plan for all who use the bay. The regional fishing industry, once concerned about the potential disruption of its $200 million-a-year business in Galveston Bay, has appreciated enhancements to and expansion of the oyster reefs, fisheries and underwater wildlife habitat. Although the bay already accounts for 30 percent of the oysters harvested in the United States, and nearly 70 percent of Texas oyster landings, the BUG project is mitigating 118 acres of eroded oyster landings and underwater habitat in the bay, making oyster reefs more commercially productive. Even recreational fishermen have noticed improved fishing near the new habitat sites .

Recreational boaters have seen benefits as well. Redfish Island, a popular boater anchorage that eroded to below sea level several years ago, has recently been reconstructed with limestone as part of the overall plan. The island will now serve as a destination point and safe anchorage for boaters and will provide refuge for birds.

As Galveston Bay thrives, the Port's business does too. The larger channel attracts larger ships, which bring larger economic returns for the region. Raising $649 million dollars annually in state and local taxes, the Port has a tremendous fiscal impact on the region. But perhaps most noteworthy, is that with each phase, as another marsh or island is created, the expansion project garners more support from the entire community. Those once wary of the project have now come around; they've become believers in the benefits of environmental conservation, and believers that business and the environment can and does work hand-in-hand. Galveston Bay is living proof.

The Beneficial Uses Group is a coalition of local, state and federal government agencies. They formed in 1990 to determine environmentally responsible uses for materials dredged during the expansion of the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel. To find out more about the BUG project, visit www.betterbay.org.

Back to Releases