Honolulu shipping firm had no emergency plans for molasses spill
by Oskar Garcia THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The state didn't require Matson—which has been loading and transporting molasses at the harbour for about 30 years—to plan for the possibility of a molasses spill.
HONOLULU—A senior executive for the shipping company responsible for spilling about 1,400 tons of molasses into Hawaii waters says the company hadn’t planned for the possibility of a spill.
Vic Angoco said Thursday that Matson Navigation Co. had planned for spills of oil or other chemicals, but not for the sugary substance.
Gill told reporters at a news conference more fish have died in this incident than in any other in the area.
Officials responding to a spill of 1,400 tons of molasses in Hawaii waters plan to let nature clean things up, with boat crews collecting thousands of dead fish to determine the extent of environmental damage.
The crews already have collected about 2,000 dead fish from waters near Honolulu Harbor, and they expect to see more in the coming days and possibly weeks, said Gary Gill, deputy director of the Hawaii Department of Health.
“Our best advice as of this morning is to let nature take its course,” Gill told reporters at a news conference at the harbour, where commercial ships passed through discolored, empty-looking waters.
The state didn’t require Matson to plan for the possibility, Gill and a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.
The company had been loading and transporting molasses at the harbour for about 30 years.
Angoco said the company regrets what happened.
“We take pride in being good stewards of the land, good stewards of the ocean, and in this case, we didn’t live up to our standards,” he said. “And we are truly sorry for that, we’re truly sorry for that.”
More fish have died because of the spill than in any other incident in the area, Gill said.
The fish are dying because the high concentration of molasses is making it difficult for them to breathe, said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
John Hernandez, owner of a fish broker across the harbour from Matson, said he believed it would take years for the waters to restore.
“Mother Nature and the earth seems to always have to deal with our (mistakes),” Hernandez said.
Downstream from the spill, workers collected dead fish in nets at a small sailing club, placing them in plastic bags and blue plastic tubs. About a half-mile away, recreational fishers tried their luck despite warnings from state officials to avoid eating fish from the waters.
Angoco said Matson temporarily patched the hole and the pipe stopped leaking Tuesday morning. The company was working on a permanent fix.
He said the leak occurred in a section of pipe that was not normally used. But he declined to say how the molasses got into the section of pipe where it eventually leaked, saying the company was still investigating.
Underwater video taken by Honolulu television station Hawaii News Now showed dead fish, crabs and eels scattered along the ocean floor of the harbour and the water tinted a yellowish brown.
Matson ships molasses from Hawaii to the mainland about once a week. Molasses is made at Hawaii’s last sugar plantation, run by Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. on Maui.
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
