Houston's Bayous Will Soon Contain Fewer Cars

HOUSTON, TX — It's estimated that more than 100 cars, trucks, and other types of vehicles rest at the bottom of Houston's bayous, concealed by the muddy waters. Abandoned by their owners or dumped by thieves hoping to get rid of evidence, some might even contain human remains, as was the case in one that was pulled from Buffalo Bayou in 2016. The City of Houston, it seems, has had enough.

On Wednesday, a contractor hired by the city began hauling cars out of the waters, the second phase of a project that began in 2016 — 20 vehicles were recovered then. The current leg of the campaign will continue for about two months, and is being paid for by Houston and Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Norman. The contract was won by Huffman Contractors, a diving and marine firm based in Port Arthur.

"I think there's a high degree of concern that these vehicles (may contain) evidence that would solve a missing-persons case," Russ Poppe, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District, told the Houston Chronicle. "There's a strong desire to find out what secrets do lie in these submerged vehicles."

Texas Equusearch, an organization that conducts searches for missing persons, carried out a sonar study of Houston's bayous in 2012 and determined that more than 100 motor vehicles could be at the bottom of the waterways.

In addition to possibly helping put a rest to some cold criminal or missing persons cases, removing the cars and trucks from the bayous will benefit the environment.

"As vehicles get put in the bayous, they have a tendency to leak the liquids that keep them running— the oil, the antifreeze, the gas," Poppe said.

Huffman Contractors crews will be working on Sims and Brays bayous during this phase of the project, which is costing $218,255.

— Image: Wikimedia Commons/Astronautilus