Matson to Pay State $15.4M for 2013 Molasses Spill

A shipping company will pay Hawaii more than $15 million to settle a spill that put 233,000 gallons of molasses into Honolulu Harbor in 2013. The fine is one of the largest environmental penalties in Hawaii’s history.

The $15.4 million settlement – a combination of cash, restoration and funding of environmental programs – from Matson Navigation Company will reimburse Hawaii for costs related to cleaning up the harbor, regrow a coral nursery to replace coral damaged or destroyed by the spill, remove a molasses tank facility and support an upcoming worldwide environmental conference. The massive spill, almost two years ago, resulted in the death of 26,000 fish and other marine life. Enough molasses to fill about seven rail cars oozed out from a section of pipe Matson thought had been sealed, suffocating marine life and discoloring the water as the sticky substance sunk to the bottom of the harbor.

Approximately $6 million dollars will be spent by the company to cover the cleanup and investigation efforts made by the state including legal costs of $2 million.

The settlement was reached before the state filed a lawsuit, which could have taken eight to 12 years to resolve, Chin said. There will also be a contribution to the global Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, which is being hosted by Hawaii next year. Matson also mentioned that the cost will be considered as a loss to the company and the customers will not be burdened with it. The company had already suspended its molasses operations.

Matson released a statement for its president and CEO Matthew Cox saying the molasses spill was a blow to us all. “We can’t take back what happened, but we’ve done our best to make it right”.

The state said had the case gone to court, it could have argued that Matson dismantled its pipeline on its own.