Matson, state lacked molasses spill plans

Matson Inc. officials said Thursday that the shipping company did not have a response plan for a molasses spill, even though its vessels export as much as 2,000 tons of the viscous liquid each week to the mainland from a pipeline at Hono­lulu Harbor.

The revelation comes after an estimated 233,000 gallons of molasses from Matson’s operation poured into the harbor Monday, killing thousands of fish and marine animals there and around Keehi Lagoon so far. The disaster further threatens to destroy coral colonies in Hono­lulu Harbor.

The state didn’t require Matson to plan for the possibility, Hawaii Department of Health Deputy Director Gary Gill and state Department of Transportation spokes­woman Caro­line Sluyter said.

"We are … devastated by what we’ve seen so far," Matson Senior Vice President Vic Angoco said during a briefing for reporters Thursday. "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 and we are truly sorry for that."

However, Angoco left many questions unanswered about the pipe where the leak occurred.So far, Matson has focused on helping state and federal agencies with the cleanup, and the investigation into what caused the spill must take its course before many questions can be answered, Angoco said.

Matson, which has run a molasses export operation at Sand Island since 1983, has not made known how old the deteriorated pipe was where the leak occurred or when it was last inspected. The company hadn’t used the pipe for years, and Angoco said it had been capped sometime ago but that Monday’s leak occurred in a section of pipe before the cap.

It’s also not clear how such a massive amount of molasses was able to leak undetected or how long the spill lasted, even though Angoco said Matson monitors the volumes that travel through the pipeline.

"We’ve got to let it go through the process," he said of the investigation into the leak’s cause.

Angoco also said he couldn’t answer whether the costs of any penalties Matson receives would be passed to customers. The molasses exported out of Hono­lulu Harbor is first shipped in on barges from Maui, according to Matson officials.

The company has launched a claim hotline, at 848-8300, for those affected by the spill.

Meanwhile, Hawaii’s public health officials said they also lacked a response plan specific to a molasses spill, and they find themselves in uncharted territory as they respond to the disaster.

"This hasn’t happened anywhere near this magnitude in the past in Hawaii, so we have a lot to learn in terms of the impacts. They are severe," Gill said at the news briefing at Pier 38.

By late Thursday morning, boat cleanup crews contracted by DOH had pulled nearly 2,000 dead fish from the harbor, which is probably a "small part" of the total devastation, Gill said. DOH eventually plans to work with University of Hawaii scientists to estimate how much marine life was killed.

Officials have been testing the waters in at least 10 sites, each at several depths, in Hono­lulu Harbor and Keehi Lagoon, Gill said. The results "will tell us how quickly this disaster is diminishing over time" and perhaps provide pointers on other ways to respond, he added.

Parts of the Pier 38 shore had already shown signs of clearing up; officials still believe it could take weeks for the molasses to leave the harbor area.

Surf, wind and rain are other variables affecting how long the clear-up could take.

Lawmakers also plan to look into the spill next week. Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kai­lua-Lani­kai-Wai­ma­nalo), chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, said details were being finalized Thursday.

In a statement Thursday, Gov. Neil Abercrombie said his administration "will do everything needed to restore harbor channel waters to the highest quality and take all appropriate action to ensure that such a spill will not reoccur."

At least one other large molasses spill took place in Hawaii in 2003, when 50,000 gallons bound for a Matson barge leaked out of a state transmission line in Maui.

Gill said the Maui spill pales in comparison with what’s happened this week in Honolulu Harbor.

The Associated Press and Star-Advertiser reporter B.J. Reyes contributed to this report.