Sentencing was held in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii for a shipping company which caused a large molasses spill in 2013. Matson Navigation Company, Inc. agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges for the spill. Matson will pay a $400,000 fine and will also pay $600,000 in restitution to two environmental groups – the Waikiki Aquarium and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.
The spill occurred in September 2013, when a pipeline being used by Matson to load molasses from the sugar cane fields onto a container ship ruptured in Honolulu Harbor. The rupture dumped 223,000 gallons of molasses into Honolulu Harbor. Parts of a nearby lagoon were closed. The spill killed an estimated 26,000 fish and marine animals. It was identified as the largest marine disaster in Hawaii’s history.
Following the spill, Hawaii legislators proposed several methods for controlling and allocating the $400,000 fine, including using some of the money to update the state’s outdated emergency response plan for spills. The latest plan was written in 1996.
Matson has claimed that it spent over $1.3 million in addition to the fines for response costs, legal fees, and for third party claims. Matson reimbursed some local businesses which were affected by the spill, such as lagoon tours and fishing tours operating nearby.
For information, contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.
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