Waste Program Successes

Deepwater Horizon Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group (TIG)

In 2025, the Deepwater Horizon Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group (TIG) began on-the-ground implementation of the Reducing Marine Debris Impacts on Birds and Sea Turtles Project. The project includes the identification of hotspots where sea turtles and birds are likely to encounter debris, debris removal activities focused on those hotspots, and public outreach and education efforts. 

Taylor Alexander from the TCEQ Natural Resource Trustee Program led the implementation of the project in Texas, including identifying potential project partners, developing agreements and work plans, and overseeing partner work and monitoring reports. In 2025, TCEQ’s project partners at the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (University of Texas Marine Science Institute) and Texas A&M at Galveston conducted 71 surveys and cleanups at 16 different sites along the Texas coast (not including post-holiday volunteer beach cleanup sites), collected and disposed of more than 1,100 pounds of debris, and facilitated 66 education/outreach opportunities. 

These efforts led to the enhancement of over 68 acres of beach, hard bottom, tidal wetland, and barrier island habitat along the Texas coast. TCEQ’s project partners sort and weigh the debris collected by type of material and report what is being found in the environment. 

This project is funded through 2029 by Natural Resource Damage settlement funds resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and overseen by members of Regionwide TIG, which includes Natural Resource Trustees from all five Gulf states and three different Federal agencies. 

Previous Success Stories

• 630 Montana Street
• Heritage Senior Center
• Richardson Public Safety Campus
• Tarrant County Opportunity Center
• The Baylor University - Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC)
• MD Anderson West Houston Center
• The Pierce Marsh Restoration Project
• Expedited Permitting
• Lost Pines Art Center
• The Mosaic on Broadway
• Arizona Department of Environmental Quality visits TCEQ
• Fort Bend Discovery Center
• Trinity River Audubon Center
• First Large Component Disposal at Texas Radioactive Waste Site
• Protection of Natural Resources
• Recycling
• Safeguarding the Environment
• 2017 UIC Mickey Leland Intern-Geologic Mapping Project
• Large Component from Sturgis Nuclear Barge Disposed at Texas Radioactive Waste Site
• Debris Cleanup Tools Created From TCEQ Funding
• From Electric Power to Brain Power

All of the above documents are formatted in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)