State, federal and local agencies have created a command post near the site of last week’s massive molasses spill in Hono­lulu Harbor to help better respond to the disaster, officials announced Tuesday.

The new post, at the Clean Islands Council Facility near Sand Island, will be used by representatives of the state Departments of Health, Land and Natural Resources, and Transportation, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to the Coast Guard.

Matson Inc., the shipping company that has claimed responsibility for the spill, will also have a presence at the facility. The company, the only one transporting molasses from Hawaii in bulk, has said it will absorb the cost of cleanup.

THE SPILL, in which 1,400 tons of molasses leaked from a faulty pipe into the harbor, touched off an environmental disaster with the massive kill-off of some 25,000 fish. Officials reported Monday that the thick, dark molasses plume that had been causing the damage was beginning to clear, but not before hundreds of coral heads were also killed.

The Health Department is serving as lead agency for the response, the Coast Guard said.

The command system will help all the various agencies keep a "single and focused effort" on the cleanup, incident commander Keith Kawa­oka said in a statement. "Each agency has brought in its most experienced staff from around the country and I am confident they will work together to develop appropriate solutions to the problem."

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is scheduled to hold a constituent call at 12:15 p.m. today on the federal response to the spill. Members of the public interested in listening to the session should call 877-353-4701.