SHIP CHANNEL TOUR SHOWS HOW LITTER TRAVELS

By Ella Tyler

Last Sunday afternoon, there was not much traffic on the Houston Ship Channel. A few huge ships were moored and one was being guided up the channel. Mothers For Clean Air organized this trip so that passengers could get a close-up look at chemical plants, but floating trash and sea gulls also competed for my attention.

As the boat left the turning basin, sea gulls followed its wake, swooping down to catch fish that were too small for us to see from the boat. Occasionally, other birds could be seen perched on pilings or chunks of rock. Some small black ducks floated by. My birding skills are very limited, but I saw one bird that I think was a brown pelican and several that might be herons. I saw at least six different kinds of bird — a surprise. My expectation has always been that the Ship Channel is a barren place that doesn’t support wildlife.

Something green trying was trying to grow everywhere along the channel bank that wasn’t concreted over. Brady’s Landing Restaurant and some of the industrial facilities had lawns, but sunflowers and trees were sprouting whenever there was a bit of dirt.

Looking down at the water, the most visible feature was trash. Plastic water bottles and bits of Styrofoam dominated. Recent rains had washed discarded cigarette butts, soda cans, plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, and litter from Houston streets through storm drains into the water of the channel. Unless cleaned up or caught on the banks, the trash will end up in Galveston Bay and move on out into the open sea.

A bright pink skimmer boat called the Mighty Tidy works five days a week to skim trash from parts of Buffalo Bayou and the Ship Channel. It was put into operation in 2003. The Mighty Tidy is managed by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and is a project of the Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County, and The Port of Houston. Cleaning up the trash gives the area a better appearance but it also removes a source of pollution and lets flood waters flow more easily. Objects carried by floodwaters can damage the bayou’s banks.

Plastic is a serious problem in the world’s oceans. Last week, Greenpeace reported that there is a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The area, which can grow to the size of Texas, is not far from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Greenpeace report, “Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans” said at least 267 species — including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish — are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris.

The boat’s announcer didn’t mention the trash, and one boy (not from the Mothers for Clean Air group) tossed his pink soft drink can over the side.

The trip took us from the Turning Basin to the Washburn Tunnel. There was some activity at some of the chemical plants, and a pervasive smell of sulphur in the air near the end of the route.

The Port of Houston offers free Ship Channel tours on the Sam Houston several times a day with advance reservations.