Posted on: Friday, April 12, 2002

Container leak forces decontamination of Matson workers

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Honolulu Fire Department crews responded to the call to help Matson Navigation Co. employees who may have been exposed to a chemical leak at Sand Island yesterday. No major injuries were reported. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Hazardous materials experts were called yesterday to the Matson Navigation Co. terminal on Sand Island when a pint of fluid from a container of hazardous waste from Johnston Island spilled through a leaky valve onto the deck of a barge.

The Honolulu Fire Department put about 50 employees of Matson Navigation Co. through decontamination as a precaution, although there was no evidence that any were directly exposed to the fluid, said Paul Londynsky, Matson's director of safety, quality and environmental affairs.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard marine safety office said the fluid — containing arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury — poses a "low to moderate" risk.

Fire crews were called at 9:40 a.m. when an employee conducting a routine inspection noticed fluid leaking on the deck near one of the containers aboard the Islander, a Matson barge that makes cargo runs throughout the mid-Pacific, said Matson spokesman Jeff Hull.

None of the fluid leaked into the water, and none of the workers appeared to have suffered any ill effects, said Capt. Richard Soo, spokesman for the fire department.

However, the 20 employees who came closest to the spill during the inspection were showered. Matson also dispatched them to Concentra Medical Centers, a laboratory specializing in industrial accidents, as an added precaution, Londynsky said.

And, because they had been allowed to leave ship and mingled with about 30 other workers, Soo said, these employees had their shoes removed for decontamination.

The barge recently had picked up waste products from Johnston Island. Matson spokesmen could not identify the source of the tank, beyond saying it was a shipment originating from a contractor working for the Department of Defense.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the tank was removed from the barge and placed within a containment barrier while experts worked to isolate the leak.

Reach Vicki Viotti at 525-8053 or vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com.