GALVESTON, TEXAS - Created in 1990, the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG) formed to find environmentally responsible ways to utilize the material dredged from the Houston Ship Channel during the expansion project. Since its formation, the BUG has initiated projects that will create 4,250 acres of inter-tidal salt marsh; create a six-acre bird-nesting island; restore Goat Island in Buffalo Bayou and Redfish Island in Galveston Bay; create access channels for recreational boaters; and develop an underwater berm that would serve as additional wildlife habitat. All projects will be formed from the tons of silt, clay and sand being dredged from the Ship Channel during its expansion.

The BUG traces its mission to 1968, when the Port of Houston Authority first applied to Congress for funds to deepen and widen the Houston Ship Channel. In 1989 - more than 20 years later - Houston voters approved the bond funding required to enact the plan, which would deepen the channel to 45 feet and widen it to 530 feet.

In 1987, while the Port of Houston Authority was preparing for the bond election, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement for the project. Later, the Corps created the Interagency Coordination Team (ICT) to address issues discussed in the reports. The ICT is a problem-solving group responsible for the planning, engineering and post-project monitoring of the dredged materials from the ship channel and bay.

Several subcommittees emerged from the ICT, including the Beneficial Uses Group, which is composed of representatives from the Port of Houston Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Services, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas General Land Office.

The Beneficial Uses Group's plan is one that will benefit all who live in and use Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Additionally, their plan is one of the largest habitat restoration efforts ever undertaken. According to Dick Gorini, chairman of the Group, creating inter-tidal salt marsh with the dredged materials was a logical choice because the Galveston Bay area has steadily lost wetlands acreage. Studies examining estuaries throughout the country, including the Galveston Bay National Estuary Program study, revealed that Galveston Bay lost approximately 35,000 acres of wetlands between 1950 and 1989.

As a result of the BUG's formation, the agencies involved are leading the way in demonstrating how a variety of groups, with different expertise, can work together to create a mutually satisfying, environmentally beneficial program.

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