On Thursday, the Texas General Land Office said it will go after $6.9 million of the $4.5 billion fine imposed on BP to pay for the removal of dangerous and dilapidated structures that dot the Texas coast near Bolivar Peninsula and Corpus Christi.
Those structures include hurricane debris, offshore platforms and plugged wells exposed by erosion, which could cause inland damage and hurt tourism, according to the land office.
The state plans to add $4.4 million in taxpayer money to the requested $6.9 million for the project.
"For the current phase, for which we submitted the application, the areas of concentration are Bolivar Peninsula and Corpus Christi Bay," said land office spokeswoman Brittany Eck in an email.
"Those on Bolivar are a combination of exposed wells, pipes and additional debris on the shoreline. The wells on Bolivar were properly plugged and cut decades ago, but due to erosion, have washed up on the beach and are a potential hazard."
An example of the debris on Bolivar includes fishing piers near where Texas 124 meets Texas 87 in High Island that were destroyed by hurricanes Rita and Ike.
The land office, which manages the Texas coastline, said the debris and abandoned structures pose an ongoing hazard for recreational boaters and anglers, commercial fishing and others who navigate in and along the coastline.
Other "unauthorized" wells and platforms identified off the coast of Chambers and Jefferson counties will need to be removed in future phases, she said.
"Our team is working hard to inspect the entire coast, but this takes time and will continue to be a working inventory as structures are found and removed," said Eck.
Eck said the GLO plans to use another source of land office money to remove a submerged shrimp boat about 75 feet long that menaces navigation in Sabine Pass.
Jefferson County also is applying for grant money from the RESTORE Act for coastal protection efforts such as pumping sand from offshore to help rebuild Jefferson County beaches behind a new clay berm the county built from just west of Sabine Pass into Chambers County near the Texas 124 intersection with the eroded Texas 87.
A rebuilt coastline would protect the Intracoastal Waterway on which commercial barge traffic moves. It also would help to protect the massive industrial complexes in Port Arthur.
The county also is seeking money to help build siphons to run under the waterway to help restore the fresh water marshes along the coastline that also would absorb storm surges from tropical storms and hurricanes.
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