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Hawaii Enables Superferry Sailings During Environmental Review

Posted November 6th, 2007 by Anonymous

HONOLULU, Hawaii, November 5, 2007 (ENS) - Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle today signed a bill allowing the Hawaii Superferry to resume service while the state conducts an environmental impact statement, EIS, over the objections of many residents of Maui and Kauai. Lingle also imposed a set of 40 operating conditions on the Superferry aimed at protecting the environment.

The state and Hawaii Superferry corporation today filed a motion before Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza asking him to immediately lift his injunction that blocks the 349 foot catamaran from sailing while the EIS is underway.

In a statement this morning, Lingle said, "This legislation and the conditions the ferry service will be required to follow will preserve an important interisland transportation alternative for the people of Hawaii while protecting our natural and cultural resources. I want to commend the bipartisan effort of the Legislature to pass this bill. I also want to thank all of our citizens who took the time to contact lawmakers or who testified in person to make their voices heard on this important issue."

John Garibaldi, president and CEO of Hawaii Superferry, said, "We appreciate Governor Lingle's and the Legislature's timely action of signing into law a bill that allows Hawaii Superferry to operate while the state conducts an EIS."

"Hawaii Superferry believes that the operating conditions outlined by the governor are reasonable and fair under the current circumstances. As we stated last week, we look forward to resuming service once all operational, regulatory and legal steps are completed."

The House voted 39-11 in favor of allowing the 800 passenger ferry to resume service under operating conditions to protect whales and deter the spread of invasive species while the state conducts the environmental review. The state Senate passed the bill 20-5 last Monday.

The House vote ended an extraordinary six-day special session where lawmakers overturned court rulings to help the Superferry. Ferry company executives said they were not financially able to leave the new vessel tied up in Honolulu for months while the EIS takes place and would have to take their ship and leave the state.

Environmentalists and many residents of Maui and Kauai asked the legislators to follow the courts and first do an environmental review, but they failed to persuade their representatives to stand against the Superferry.

Critics are concerned that the high-speed vessel will strike endangered humpback whales as the vessel traverses the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Whales migrate to the Hawaiian islands to calve and are found in the sanctuary from November through May.

They also fear the spread of invasive species, increased traffic on Maui and Kauai, and the plunder of their natural resources by ferry passengers packing their cars with rocks, plants, fish and shellfish, and even human remains and other cultural artifacts.

Some environmental groups and citizens are angry that a special law was written so that the Superferry could sail while the environmental impact study is underway.

KAHEA - the Hawaiian Environmental Alliance says there will be "an imminent physical confrontation as the Hawaii Superferry prepares to begin inter-island service."

"The ferry's operations are being made possible by special legislation that exempts the corporation from the state's environmental laws, a move that has outraged citizens throughout the state," said KAHEA in a statement Friday.

As the ferry was being built, Superferry executives said they would be unable to complete funding arrangements if the state required an EIS, and in 2005, the governor exempted the Superferry from the review. But environmental and citizens groups protested and demanded that the study be conducted. In August, they succeeded in convincing the state Supreme Court to order the EIS.

On August 26 and 27, the Hawaii Superferry decided to start formal operations despite the Supreme Court ruling.

Hundreds of protesters lined the shore on the island of Kauai and about 40 went into the water to protest the ferry's entry to Nawiliwili Harbor August 26 and again on August 27. The 349 foot vessel with its load of passengers and cars was turned back to Honolulu without landing after the U.S. Coast Guard could not provide for its safe passage to the dock.

In response to the protests, Governor Lingle created a Unified Command, made up of the U.S. Coast Guard, the FBI, state and local law enforcement, and the Hawaii Superferry corporation.

Using Homeland Security laws and Executive Orders created to combat terrorism, the Unified Command established a “security zone” in Nawiliwili Harbor. Protestors who enter this zone, which encompasses popular surf breaks and fishing areas, face charges of terrorism that carry penalties of 10 years in federal prison and over $30,000 in fines.

Discontent with the Superferry now has the added component of resentment against intrusion of the "military" into the situation.

Rapidly expanding groups of activists are determined to stop the ship and as one critic said, "the wanton disregard of the will of Hawaii's people by the U.S. occupying force."

Another protest was held Sunday on Kauai. More than 100 people gathered in Nawiliwili harbor to protest the passage of the Superferry bill signed into law today. About 50 demonstrators jumped into the water and formed a circle in the harbor as Coast Guard boats stood by. The peaceful protest concluded without incident.

Now that the bill allowing the Superferry to operate during the EIS has been signed into law, Superferry executives hope to hire back the 249 workers furloughed last month and restart ferry service by November15.

But already, the conditions placed on the Superferry operation are being undermined.

The very first condition is that two persons be posted to act as whale lookouts and that National Marine Fisheries Service certified fisheries observers be on board the Superferry ships to monitor marine life and warn the ship's crew in time to prevent potential collisions with some of the estimated 10,000 humpback whales that calve in Hawaiian waters.

But an official of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, has told the state that the federal government cannot place observers on the Superferry to monitor whale-ship interaction.

Chris Yates, of the NOAA Fisheries' Pacific Islands Regional Office, said he has made it clear to everyone that NOAA observers are not immediately available. He said the Superferry could hire independent observers or the state could pay for observers to watch for whale incidents.

"We have been very straightforward with everyone who has asked about this process," Yates wrote in an e-mail to Jeffrey Walters, the state's co-manager of the whale sanctuary, that was quoted in the "Honolulu Advertiser."

"I fear that the bill as written will raise the expectations of the public and media that these requirements will actually result in some action, which they will not," Yates wrote.

Superferry executives have said staff will watch out for whales and the company has designed routes that can take the high-speed catamaran outside the whale sanctuary and avoid the shallow waters of 100 fathoms or less - one of the 40 conditions in the legisation enacted today.

Superferry has committed to slowing its planned 35-knot travel speed to 25 knots when inside the sanctuary. But environmental groups have asked that the ferry slow to 13 knots in shallow waters.

Other conditions require that the Superferry:

Conduct agricultural screenings and inspections of passengers and all vehicles, including visual inspections of engines, interiors, undercarriages, wheel wells, trunks, and beds of pickup trucks. Vehicles that are excessively muddy or that have prohibited items will be turned away, or the prohibited items taken away.

Notify passengers in advance that all vehicles, camping, hiking, hunting, diving, snorkeling, fishing and boating equipment should be thoroughly washed and free of debris.

Ban living plants and propagative plant parts that are not accompanied by a Hawaii Department of Agriculture Certificate of Inspection.

Require passengers to declare all plants, fruits and seeds, and permit inspections of such items by the Department of Agriculture.

Comply with all state water pollution laws, rules and regulations, and refrain from discharging wastewater into the ocean.

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow and The Nature Conservancy, suggested to the governor that the state conduct a rapid risk assessment during the first months of the ferry's operation. Lingle said she has already directed the Department of Transportation to commission such a study.

Although the new Superferry law may be challenged in court on its constitutionality, the ferry is preparing to sail again in the face of a groundswell of opposition.