Texas General Land Office Bilge Water Reclamation Program
ABSTRACT The Oil Spill Prevention and Response Division of the Texas General Land Office has taken their oil spill prevention efforts to new heights. Beyond assessing penalties, beyond providing far-reaching educational programs, and beyond conducting extensive patrolling efforts, their most recent prevention initiative significantly decreases bilge oil spills in a non-threatening, alliance-building manner. This new prevention effort, known as the Texas General Land Office Bilge Water Reclamation Program, provides a convenient, environmentally responsible way to dispose of oily bilge water at no cost to the owners and operators of the vessels using the facilities. Strategically placed facilities collect oily bilge water from commercial or recreational fishing vessels and process it so effectively that the filtered water can be discharged directly into the adjacent waterway and the oily product can be recycled. To date, the facilities have cleaned more than 150,000 gallons of contaminated water and generated 20,000 gallons of used engine oil for use by a waste oil recycling company.