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.