Oil Spills in Galveston Bay, 1998-2002

The Galveston Bay Status and Trends Project analyzed oil spill data collected for water bodies in four counties of the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed (Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Harris).

The data, originally compiled by Texas General Land Office (GLO), describes the volume, dates, and locations of spills from 1998 to 2002 for eleven classes of petroleum products.

As seen in the table below, a total of 262,010 gallons of petroleum products were spilled into waters of Galveston Bay from 1998-2002.Of that:

• Bunker C and other heavy fuels oils comprised 43.5% (114, 032 gallons) of the amount spilled.
• A category of petroleum products identified as “Other” comprised the second largest volume spilled (21.2% or 55,642 gallons).
• Diesel fuel was the third most spilled product comprising 19.3% (50,658 gallons) of the total amount spilled in 1998-2002.
• Waste oil and crude oil each comprised approximately 7% of the total amount spills.
• Figures for non-petroleum oils, lubricating oils, gasoline, hydraulic oil, jet fuel/kerosene, and condensate were relatively small.

Looking across time, the years 2000 and 2001 had the highest numbers in terms of gallons of product spilled (see Figure below). Bunker C and heavy fuel oils, diesel, crude oil, and spills categorized as “Other” had the highest numbers in terms of volume spilled.

Total volume by year of six classes of petroleum products spilled into waters of Galveston Bay.

As seen in the table below, the Houston Ship Channel was the location of the largest volume of spills (133,084 gallons or 50.8%). Galveston Bay had the second largest volume of petroleum product spilled (52,118 gallons or 19.9%). The Texas City Ship Channel, Greens Bayou, and the San Jacinto River also ranked high in terms of volume spilled. However, when compared to the amounts spilled in the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay (areas with the most shipping traffic), those amounts seem minor.

Total Volume of Oil Spills in Galveston Bay Watershed by Water Body, 1998-2002; Source Texas General Land Office unpublished data.

Water Body Name	Amount Spilled (in Gallons)	% of Total Amount Spilled
Houston Ship Channel	133,084	50.8%
Galveston Bay	52,118	19.9%
Texas City Ship Channel	17,634	6.7%
Greens Bayou	14,855	5.7%
San Jacinto River	12,021	4.6%
Brazos River	9,284	3.5%
Sims Bayou	7,536	2.9%
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway	5,524	2.1%
Gulf of Mexico	2,389	0.9%
Galveston Ship Channel	2,155	0.8%
Buffalo Bayou	1,441	0.5%
Old Brazos River	706	0.3%
Double Bayou	580	0.2%
Clear Lake	487	0.2%
Chocolate Bayou	358	0.1%
Clear Creek	335	0.1%
Dickinson Bayou	259	0.1%
Trinity Bay	229	0.1%
Bayport Channel & Turning Basin	223	0.1%
Carpenters Bayou	183	0.1%
Cedar Creek (Bayou)	120	0.0%
Tucker's Bayou	110	0.0%
Dickinson Bay	91	0.0%
Offatts Bayou	56	0.0%
Old River	50	0.0%
Freeport Channe	41	0.0%
Cotton Bayou	33	0.0%
Other	31	0.0%
West Bay	22	0.0%
Lost Lake	14	0.0%
Oyster Creek	13	0.0%
San Bernard River	10	0.0%
Goose Creek	10	0.0%
Jarbo Bayou	5	0.0%
Burnett Bay	2	0.0%
Horse Pen Bayou	1	0.0%
Tabbs Bay	1	0.0%
Lost River	0	0.0%
Bastrop Bayou	0	0.0%
Jones Bay	0	0.0%
Highland Bayou	0	0.0%
Total	262,010