Monday, May 18, 2015

TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM TO SUE FISHMAN CHEMICAL OF VERO BEACH, FLORIDA OVER FISH KILL FROM MISLABELED CHEMICAL. THE WHITE POWDER ACTUALLY WAS 100 PERCENT HYDROQUINONE, A CARCINOGENIC SUBSTANCE USED FOR FILM PROCESSING AND AS AN ADDITIVE TO PAINT AND MOTOR FUELS.





MAY 14, 2015

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (AP)

Attorneys for the Texas State Aquarium filed a lawsuit Thursday against the company that provided a lethal chemical labeled as a parasite treatment, resulting in the death of nearly 400 fish at the facility in April.

President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Schmid during a news conference Thursday said final test results on a chemical believed to have been trichlorfon, a commonly used treatment for parasites in fish, proved identical to the outcome of preliminary tests. 

An analysis by Summit Environmental Technologies shows the white powder actually was 100 percent hydroquinone, a carcinogenic substance used for film processing and as an additive to paint and motor fuels. The container came from Fishman Chemical of Vero Beach, Florida, a wholesale outlet for tropical fish pharmaceuticals, Schmid said.

Local attorney Craig Sico, with the firm Sico White Hoelscher Harris & Braugh, said he filed the civil suit in federal court Thursday on behalf of the aquarium against the chemical distributor, citing neglect and seeking monetary damages that could reach into the millions. 

Aquarium officials are asking for a jury trial, according to documents in the lawsuit filed with Corpus Christi’s U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

On April 14 aquarium workers applied a white powder to the Islands of Steel and Flower Gardens exhibits, among others, from a container labeled trichlorfon to treat an infestation of a potentially deadly fluke or flatworm called a monogenean trematode that attaches to fish.

When news of the fish kill reached the Albuquerque BioPark Aquarium, where an earlier fish kill occurred, officials there tested their container of trichlorfon, which also came from Fishman Chemical. Tests showed it also contained hydroquinone, according to Holly Casman, manager of the Albuquerque’s BioPark Aquarium, where about 100 fish died in public view at the facility’s Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit.

“The City of Albuquerque’s attorneys are reviewing the case and will determine whether to pursue compensation from Fishman Chemical,” Casman wrote in an email this week.

Schmid said he was unaware trichlorfon was involved in the 2014 Albuquerque incident. But Sico said Fishman Chemical owner David Fishman was told a white powder labeled trichlorfon from his company was applied to the Albuquerque tanks before the local fish kill.

“Fishman was aware of this very serious and lethal issue at least six months prior to TSA placing an order with Fishman for trichlorfon,” according to the lawsuit documents.

And Fishman continued to sell the product, Schmid said.

Fishman could not be reached for comment.

Schmid and Sico repeatedly said Thursday that Texas State Aquarium staffers did everything right in their testing and administration of the treatment. They tested one batch of trichlorfon from one source on a tank containing fish before ordering trichlorfon from Fishman and applying it to the larger tanks. Sico said this protocol was examined by several leading independent aquarium professionals, all of whom agreed the process was sound.

Dr. Brent Whitaker, vice president of Biological Programs at the National Aquarium concluded the treatment protocol and procedure used was exemplary, according to a signed letter included in the lawsuit documents.

Sico said his firm is investigating five total fish kills involving trichlorfon. But he named only two, the Albuquerque aquarium and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.

Aquarium officials hope the civil action not only restores the Texas State Aquarium’s reputation and financial losses, but also helps prevent similar mishaps from happening, Sico said.

Meanwhile, about a half dozen aquariums in Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, Kentucky Florida and Michigan have donated 130 new fish representing more than 30 species, with more on the way. Among those in the pipeline is a sand tiger shark to replace Hans, one of the aquarium most beloved inhabitants that perished.

Others killed include tarpon, grouper, lionfish, jack crevalle, a ballon fish, redfish and dozens of smaller species.

Schmid said he hopes to have the tanks fully replenished by the end of summer.