The Worst Thing About Hawaii's Molasses Spill Isn't Even the 1,400 Tons of Dead Fish

[babylonsister]

The Worst Thing About Hawaii's Molasses Spill Isn't Even the 1,400 Tons of Dead Fish

Unlike recent spills of tar sands in Michigan and Arkansas, officials say there is no real possibility of cleaning up the mess in Honolulu Harbor.
September 16, 2013
Jon Bowermaster

UPDATE: September, 16, 2013—4:24 PM PST


Matt Cox, the CEO of Matson Navigation, apologized for the molasses spill and said the company "will fully pay for cleanup and other costs without passing them on to taxpayers or customers," reports the Associated Press.

It has been roughly a week since a massive river of molasses poured into Hawaii's Honolulu Harbor—233,000 gallons of brown, sticky liquid awfulness—and the spill is now being called the worst environmental disaster in the state's history.

Thousands of fish have been killed and swimmers and surfers are being warned to stay out of the ocean due to the allure of all those dead fish for sharks.

The 1,400 tons of molasses, enough to overflow an Olympic-sized swimming pool, leaked from a pipeline used to load ships and has created its own kind of dead zone, killing everything around, from fish to coral.

snip//

"The sugary goo will eventually leave the harbor naturally, but that could take years. Algae will keep depleting oxygen as they digest the molasses, and the harbor's lack of strong ocean currents means the sludge won't be churned out to sea quickly," writes Mother Nature Network.

more...

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/09/16/1400-tons-molasses-spill-fish-and-coral-honolulu-harbor-matson?detail=takepart

[Cleita]

1. Sad, but who the hey eats molasses anymore?

Nasty stuff IMHO and fattening.

[babylonsister]

2. Apparently not fish.

[Cleita]

3. I'm just surprised there is market for it for

such a large shipment. Who is eating the stuff or maybe a better question would be which food giant is adulterating our food with it?

[Downwinder]

8. Was it coming or going?

It is a byproduct of sugar cane processing.

[Cleita]

9. They were loading the hold of a ship with it and the hose broke or snapped

something like that.

[Downwinder]

11. if they were loading the ship it must have been going off island

for use elsewhere.

[Warpy]

5. Great in cookies and baked beans, though

and you can make booze out of it, too.

As bad as it is in a harbor, think of it on dry land: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster and

I could still smell it on hot, muggy days even in the late 60s, just the faintest of odors that made me crave oatmeal cookies. Eyewitnesses said that rescuers and firemen trying to clean up the mess then spread molasses from their hands, clothing and shoes all over the city via the trolley cars and subway. The disaster wasn't limited to the North End, in other words, the whole city was affected.

[Cleita]

7. Forgot about the booze. Bet that's what it was for. n /t

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. Molasses are often used in cookie recipes...

"Blackstrap has the lowest sugar content of any molasses, and is noted for containing a higher nutritional content — particularly manganese, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, copper and vitamin B6 — than any other refined sugar.

Molasses has a wide variety of uses: It's a common ingredient in cooking, especially in cakes, cookies and other desserts. Molasses is also used in the production of ethyl alcohol and as an additive in livestock feed.

Sweet though it may be, molasses also has a somewhat checkered past: As a key ingredient in the distillation of rum..."

http://www.livescience.com/39624-what-is-molasses.html

[Downwinder]

4. They could put air spargers out there.

That would help the fish and speed up biodegradation.

[riverwalker]

10. principal ingredient of rum n/t

[madrchsod]

12. no where near as bad as this.....

the 1919 boston molasses flood

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

[Not Sure]

14. It's also used widely in animal feeds

We ship tank cars filled with the stuff to local customers that blend animal feeds. I like molasses on biscuits, so every once in a while when the smell hits my nose, I get a little hungry. Fortunately, the receiving plants have nice, large drip pans to catch any spillage, so there's not much of a mess at the unloading area. What little does get spilled is quite pungent. I can hardly imagine 233,000 gallons of it: that's equal to roughly 9 railroad tank cars of the stuff.