Molasses spill

[pzarquon]

'Everything is dead': Hawaii molasses spill killing thousands of fish
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...s-of-fish?lite

"This is the worst environmental damage to sea life that I have come across, and it’s fair to say this is a biggie, if not the biggest that we've had to confront in the state of Hawaii," Gary Gill, deputy director for the Environmental Health Division of the Health Department, told KHNL.

Exec: Company had no molasses spill response plan
http://www.khon2.com/2013/09/12/exec...response-plan/

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.

[TATTRAT]

Re: Molasses spill

was reading about this on reddit earlier, how crazy/sad/scary! Apparently it was a filling accident? As a Chef, i would think that sugar syrup would be water soluble, and it is, but the volume and density of such a spill must have just smothered the sea floor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster

Also some interesting stuff.

Matapule, I guess we should ban molasses?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Molasses spill

Those pipes are ancient, so old I'd even forgotten about them from the 70s, and it seems nearly everybody else did too. But no doubt Matson, the Harbor's boys, the EPA, et al were monitoring the matters all along and that's why they don't know yet what could have happened.

[Kaonohi]

Re: Molasses spill

Matapule, I guess we should ban molasses?

Or maybe just ban all kinds of asses, mole-asses, plain asses (which included nuts of all kinds, including gun nuts, anti-gun nuts, shark paranoids, sharks, drivers, pedestrians, loud music, altered cars, slow drivers, hidden government, reluctant-to-share government (compilation w/o representation), ETOH, MJ, drugs in general, etc.

History has shown us that whatever we ban, we actually promote; therefore Matapule is just another Gun Nut, but he's walking blind. As we all are, for various reasons.

This is just another example that tells us that sugar, refined or unrefined, is bad for you.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Molasses spill

Heads need to roll on this, but so many are at blame and for so long you'd have to dig up graves to prosecute all culpable. This disaster is absolutely inexcuseable and was totally avoidable. It'll just be another 'oh well...' moment in a long line.

[pzarquon]

Re: Molasses spill

State: Matson pipe was leaking year before molasses spill
"The warnings signs are set to come down from Keehi Lagoon and Honolulu Harbor will reopen. But that comes amidst the big bombshell today - Matson knew about the leaking pipe. It was warned in a letter from the Department of Transportation more than a year ago."

[lensperson]

Re: Molasses spill

Long ago , at the now defunct Midway swapmeet, I talked to an old vendor

about a most extraordinary event.

The old gentleman was a volunteer firefighter and one night he got a call

to respond to an overturned train.

When the team arrived it turned out to be a tanker of dehydrated alcohol.

The interviewee states flatly that when it started raining ,all hell broke loose.

The stuff swelled up like jello and those dudes were wading around in it!

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Molasses spill

Matson knew about the leaking pipe. It was warned in a letter from the Department of Transportation more than a year ago."

They sent inspectors out but didn't find a leak, so they went off to lunch and shined it on instead of contacting the informer to get the pinpoint location. So far it looks like Matson will get scot-free away with all this and do so without any guarantee to the public about anything, no rate hikes, no future damage, no heads rolling, nothing but a free pass from the State and a butt screwing for us and nature. Business as usual, and it'll happen again.