CBS News Baltimore's Bryan Lynn reported that a 1-million-gallon tank at a Westway Feed Products site on Hull Street in Baltimore overflowed Oct. 17, sending an estimated 5,000 gallons of molasses into the Inner Harbor. The Maryland Department of the Environment traced the overflow to a Maillard reaction, in which sugars and amino acids react and make molasses bubble and expand inside the tank, which was about three-quarters full.
Crews held back the molasses with sand barriers, a floating boom and vacuum trucks, and Westway moved product into a 3-million-gallon tank to stop the overflow. The company said the overflow began around 2 a.m., crews from Miller Environmental Group arrived about three hours later and air monitoring found no known hazards to nearby residents.
State inspectors said they saw no dead fish or immediate harm to aquatic life in the harbor. Westway said it agreed on a remediation plan with authorities and recovery work was underway.
