State, local agencies partner to remove abandoned boats in Clear Lake

Russel Lavigne, CEO of Dead Boats Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds to remove the boats, also attended the event.

While the GLO has the authority to remove abandoned boats in Texas coastal waters, the agency is not legally required to remove derelict vessels and doesn’t receive dedicated funding to remove and dispose of them, which can cost upwards of $1,500 per foot, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.

To fund the removals, the GLO partners with nonprofit organizations like the Dead Boats Society.

In February, Community Impact reported that the Dead Boats Society had removed seven boats to date.

"It's cost us anywhere from on normal circumstances ... anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000 to get some of these boats out of the water,” Lavigne previously told Community Impact.

However, in this case, Harris County Precinct 2 funded the removal of the sailboat on Thursday under its Keep2Clean budget, media specialist Alonzo Guadarrama said. Guadarrama could not confirm the total cost of removing the sailboat, but said Precinct 2 is working to remove five boats in 2026, two of which have already been removed.

Quote of note

"As someone who called the Texas coast my home for over a decade, the preservation of our coastal waters has been a top priority of mine since day one at the GLO,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in the release. “Responsibly disposing of unwanted vessels is vital to the safety and cleanliness of Texas waters as well as our unique marine wildlife.”

Stay tuned

Two additional boats are in the process of being removed and destroyed, according to the release.