42,000 They say. Is that when they started counting gallons, was the day it was reported? To be fair, it was reported and they are showing good effort in containing the jet fuel, to keep from further contamination.
It all leads to the ocean - especially if it is in the middle of the Ocean
It is difficult to condemn a business that is there because of the demand of consumers; travelers. It is worth thinking of alternative means of transporting ourselves. Or, we would have been better served had we thought this combustion thing all through.
Why wasn't I horrified more at the carnage that was always found on the front of my dad's trucks and cars?
February 2 Update From Region Nine (9) E.P.A. on Jet Fuel Spill (February 2, 2015) There is a big downplay as to the ecological damages, or perhaps the report has been written in a positive vein, hoping that the very company, operators, permitting engineers are the ones reporting, and committing to the action of clean-up.
There needs to be more than "they got the booms out there, and no fuel has actually made it in to the water see..." Except - the exclusion of the fuels and / or other toxins that are seeping or leaching into the well draining soils, sand and embankments.
The company who caused or allowed the spill should pay for a third party engineering organization, (other than the one they use). A proven ethical team & lab to run the numbers on weight, spills, rainfall, storms, wind and tectonic activities, and the possible rate and depth of penetration out of site that will not be measured until the area is proclaimed a toxic disaster.
Once abandoned, left for the taxpayers to pay, the company gets to jog merrily along, get a tax write-off, and may walk away unscathed by the disasters they have made.
What is worse, is that usually the same engineering companies who pushed those environmental permits through for the dirty polluters, who then get paid from the government (local, county, state or federal) to maintain records on the disaster site now classified for the National Priorities List.
Then, after a couple of years, they buy a new subsidiary with a new name, and viola! The old company returns, buys his place back for pennies on the dollar, gets Brownfield money for environmental clean-up, and help with reestablishing the land as usable by human beings.
The same engineering firms and corporations are enjoying all the wealth while the common person on the street is suffering the results from living with toxic products and processes, making poverty wages, while the CEO's of these corps get us to pay all the price for being poisoned.
This seems all dandy, but these trenches are unlined. That toxic liquid can seep and creep into the dust and soils.
42,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel was reported spilled and less than 20,000 has been retrieved. Beautiful Hawaii.
Latest update - February 10, 2015
There have over 19,000 gallons of jet fuel recaptured and work continues in trying to recover the spilled fuel.
DOH has reported that the fuel spill has not affected harbor activities and there are no closures. Boaters, fishermen, pier construction workers, office workers, wildlife and marine life are safe from the fuel spill as the fuel is underground. There are no drinking water wells in the area.
