About 5,000 gallons of molasses spill into Baltimore Harbor from overflowing tank

BALTIMORE, Md. — About 5,000 gallons of molasses spilled into the Baltimore Harbor from an overflowing tank over the weekend, state inspectors reported.

The molasses spilled on Saturday after a tank at the Westway Feed Products facility in South Baltimore began overflowing, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment inspection report.

Maryland Department of Environment

An estimated 5,000 gallons of molasses entered the harbor. The overflow was caused by a Maillard reaction, inspectors wrote.

Sand berms were installed near the harbor to stop the flow of molasses, a boom was launched in the harbor to prevent any molasses from traveling further, vacuum trucks were observed on site siphoning up molasses to be hauled away, and a boat was observed entering the water to assess the molasses in the water.

The inspection report noted that dead fish or adverse aquatic impacts were not observed at the time.

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