El Salvador river threatened by molasses spill

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Environmental officials in El Salvador said more than 900,000 gallons of molasses spilled into a river near the border with Guatemala, fouling the waters and killing wildlife.

The Environmental Ministry announced a three-month emergency Monday over the spill in the Santa Ana department about 48 miles west of the capital.

Environmental Minister Lina Pohl said negligence by sugar producer Ingenio La Magdalena apparently led to the spill Thursday. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar processing, reduces the water’s oxygen level, killing fish, shrimp and crabs.

Pohl advised people in the area not to drink from the river.

Agents from the attorney general’s office were investigating at the site.

In 2013, 1,400 tons of molasses spilled into Honolulu Harbor and killed some 26,000 fish and other marine life.