Crews working the water and shorelines have collected about 25,000 dead fish and other animals from surrounding waters since the spill was discovered Sept. 9, officials said.
Matson Navigation Co. CEO Matt Cox said Monday that he is sorry for the spill, and the company won’t ship molasses until it’s confident a similar spill will not occur.
The spill happened in Honolulu Harbor in an industrial area west of downtown, where Matson loads molasses and other goods for shipping, about 5 miles west of Waikiki. Some 233,000 gallons of molasses spilled from the leaky pipe as the sugary substance was moved from storage tanks to ships sailing to California. Company and state officials say the leak happened when molasses seeped into a section of pipe that was supposed to be sealed off.