Texas GLO and Coast Guard to begin removing vessels displaced by Hurricane Harvey from coastal waterways
AUSTIN — Today, Commissioner George P. Bush announced the Texas General Land Office (GLO), in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard, will begin removing up to 300 displaced and sunken vessels damaged in coastal waters as a result of Hurricane Harvey. For information regarding the vessel removal operation, a Hurricane Harvey vessel owner hotline has been established at (877) 458-9377.
"With the magnitude of the damage from Hurricane Harvey, there is no doubt this will require a long recovery," said Commissioner George P. Bush. "The GLO's Oil Spill Prevention and Response team is proud to partner with the U.S. Coast Guard to locate and remove vessels rendered inoperable by Hurricane Harvey."
The GLO considers all of these vessels a threat to the environment and an imminent and unreasonable threat to public health, safety and welfare. The Coast Guard will be supervising the removal of these vessels in accordance with the National Response Framework Emergency Support Function (ESF)-10 Mission Assignment under the direction of the GLO.
The GLO, Coast Guard, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been fully integrated into the Unified Command (UC) to respond to impacts from Hurricane Harvey along the Texas coastline. The Coast Guard has received disaster funding from FEMA to remove pollution threats from coastal waterways.
The Hurricane Harvey ESF-10 Texas Unified Command structure ensures a unified approach to addressing hurricane related pollution threats through a coordinated Federal, state and local response structure.
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