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Bilge Water Reclamation Program

The Bilge Water Reclamation Program was established along the Texas coast as an innovative response to unauthorized oil spills from commercial and recreational vessels. The inconvenience and cost of proper disposal of contaminated bilge water prompted boat owners to simply pump the contaminated water overboard, negatively affecting the very livelihood of many local fishermen. When illegally dumped, contaminated bilge water results in thousands of dollars worth of cleanup costs and environmental damage including the killing of fish, shrimp, and plankton.

The Land Office devised a way to make legal disposal more attractive to fishing vessels and recreational boaters. Working with port authorities, navigation districts, and business entities, The Land Office has established several locations for disposal of bilge water and used oil at no cost to the user. Please refer to the Oil Recycling Map.

The Land Office recycles the used oil and safely disposes the contaminated water. To date, the Land Office has collected over 1.8 million gallons of bilge water and over 1.7 million gallons of used oil.

If your organization is interested in obtaining a bilge water/used oil reclamation service in your community, please contact Land Office staff.