Posted October 7, 2013
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Hawaii’s state Department of Health will both investigate a spill of 1,400 tons of molasses in the Honolulu Harbor, according to Audrey McAvoy of the Associated Press in an article available here.
EPA spokesman, Dean Higuchi, said that investigators will determine whether there were any violations of the Clean Water Act.
Keith Kawaoka, with the state Department of Health’s hazard evaluation and emergency response office, said it will investigate who was responsible.
In early September, up to 233,000 gallons of molasses dripped into the harbor from a pipe belonging to Matson Navigation Co., a shipping company. That volume is equivalent to what would fill about seven rail cars or about one-third of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The spill caused extensive damage, killing more than 26,000 fish and other marine species.
Matson said that the spill came from a section of the pipe it thought had been sealed.
The state Department of Transportation “disclosed that state inspectors saw molasses dripping from the same spot on two occasions last year.” In July of 2012, inspectors saw the leak while looking for storm water discharge, notified Matson and asked them to repair the leak. In May, a separate state crew noticed molasses dripping, but did not tell Matson about the second incident.
The government shutdown has made the situation more complicated since 93 percent of EPA employees are not at work, according to a Huffington Post article, available here. Gary Gill, deputy director for environmental health at the Hawaii Department of Health said “These investigations take time, so it would be a delay obviously if we don’t have our partners to work with.”
Members of the Hawaii Legislature are expected to hold hearings in the coming days on the possible failings by both Matson and the state agencies which oversee the harbor.
Hawaii’s Department of Transportation, which has a “history of running afoul of the Clean Water Act, is expected to shoulder the brunt of criticism because it is in charge if the harbor.” In 2009, the DOT was fined $100,000 by the EPA for lax oversight of pollution into coastal water at the Honolulu and Kalealoa Barbers Point Harbors. In 2005, the DOT was also fined $1 million and required to invest $50 million to control storm water runoff from its highways and airports.
Jeff Hull, spokesman for Matson, said, “We are working with all the agencies and providing any information they need.”
For more information on the Clean Water Act, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website, here.
Share: