Post by ferryfast admin on Sept 5, 2007 13:03:38 GMT -5
Hawaii Ferry Sits Idle Amid Protests and Court Rulings
NEW YORK TIMES
www.nytimes.com/
HONOLULU, Sept. 4 — A giant twin-hulled ferry designed to transform transportation between the Hawaiian Islands for tourists and residents made its maiden voyage on Aug. 26.
But today, the $85 million boat, the Alakai, lies idle in the harbor here, prevented by court order from sailing to Maui and by protesters from going to Kauai. A citizens group there was preparing to ask a judge for a similar order.
“The law requires the Superferry to prove it’s safe,” said Daniel Hempey, the group’s lead lawyer.
The luxurious 450-foot ferry, thought to be the largest aluminum ship ever built in the United States, would be the first to carry cars (up to 286), trucks and 866 passengers between the island of Oahu, Honolulu’s home, and two neighbor islands, Maui and Kauai.
Operating at 40 miles per hour, the Alakai has a state-of-the-art computer system to reduce pitching and rolling in Hawaii’s choppy seas. Wide windows allow travelers to view the islands from the sea, many for the first time. A sister ship under construction in Mobile, Ala., is planned for service between here and the Big Island in 2009.
At the center of the ferry dispute is whether the project should have been subject to an environmental assessment before the operator, Hawaii Superferry Inc., began service.
If an assessment found that the ferry could damage the islands’ unique flora and fauna, an environmental impact statement would be required, which would mean scientific studies, public hearings and the possibility of legal challenges.
But the controversy, which continues to dominate headlines here, is also about the changing nature of life in Hawaii and the impact of powerful economic interests.
“It’s symbolic politics,” says Ira Rohter, a professor of political science at the University of Hawaii. “Hawaii used to be a special place, and now it looks more and more like California. Most people feel we need a ferry, but they also want some control over how it’s going to change their lives.”
Hawaii Superferry’s chief executive, John L. Garibaldi, 54, and a resident of Hawaii for 26 years, said that when he began the project five years ago, state officials told him there was no need for an environmental assessment, a position that was upheld by two court rulings.
“We felt we were on pretty solid ground,” Mr. Garibaldi said.
Had an assessment been needed, he said, it would have posed an unacceptable risk for Hawaii Superferry’s main equity investor, J. F. Lehman and Company, which put up $85 million, and for the federal Maritime Administration, which provided a loan guarantee of $140 million. The state provided $40 million, which the company is required to repay, to build fixed ramps for the ferry at the four island ports.
Mr. Garibaldi’s argument was met with skepticism by the ferry’s main opponent, the Sierra Club. “Nonsense,” said Jeff Mikulina, the head of the club’s Hawaii chapter. “This process happens all the time, and it does not prevent a lot of businesses from expanding. It simply ensures that businesses comply with environmental laws.”
In 2005, the Sierra Club and two local groups filed suit in State District Court on Maui, demanding that an environmental assessment be done. But the state and Hawaii Superferry argued successfully that no such assessment was required. A federal court turned down a separate lawsuit by the same plaintiffs.
“From a legal standpoint, it was a close call,” said Ed Case, a lawyer and a Democrat who represented most of Oahu and the neighbor islands in Congress from 2003 to 2007. “But as a matter of public policy, a project of this magnitude, even though it’s going to benefit the state as a whole, needs to go through a public vetting process.”
Fast ferries slice through the waters around the world — the Mediterranean, the English Channel and Hong Kong harbor, to name a few. But Hawaii is different.
The islands are a major calving ground for humpback whales, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and which tend to be killed by fast ferries more than by slower ships.
Environmentalists are also concerned that the many vehicles the boat can carry will allow mongooses, which have severely depleted Oahu’s bird population, to stow away and be carried to Kauai, which has none.
In addition, the ferries threaten many local businesses, said James H. Wright, a corporate lawyer and longtime observer of Hawaii’s economy, like the inter-island shipping company, three local airlines and car rental companies.
“It will also change the dynamics of nonunion trades,” Mr. Wright said. “Now, it’s more expensive to get work like roofing or plumbing done in the neighbor islands. But with the Superferry, Oahu tradesmen will be able to take their trucks on the ferry and undercut the locals.”
The Superferry will also carry S.U.V.’s and trailered boats, allowing Oahu fishermen frustrated by the island’s depleted waters to gain access to the richer grounds of Maui and Kauai — to the discontent of local fisherman. Those boats might also involuntarily carry bits of Eucheuma seaweed, which is devastating Oahu’s biggest bay, to the neighboring islands.
All these changes seemed inevitable until Aug, 23, five days before the ferry was to begin operation, when Hawaii’s highest court overturned the Maui court ruling and found that the Superferry did require an environmental assessment. But the State Supreme Court did not say whether it could operate during the assessment process.
Mr. Garibaldi then pushed up the Superferry’s launching by two days and slashed fares for cars and passengers to $5, about a tenth of the posted price. On Aug. 26, a nearly full ferry sailed to Maui, then to Kauai and back to Honolulu. But the next day, when it tried to return to Kauai and despite the efforts of the Coast Guard to clear its path, several dozen swimmers, kayakers and surfers prevented the vessel from docking, forcing it to return here after a two-hour standoff.
A judge then issued a temporary order forbidding the Superferry to sail again to Maui until the environment assessment issue is resolved. Hawaii Superferry stopped service to Kauai, Mr. Garibaldi said, until the Coast Guard could guarantee safe docking there.
In the meantime, Mr. Garibaldi said his company had done its utmost to address environmental concerns. “We have special bottom paint that prevents micro-organisms from attaching, we don’t discharge any fluids at sea, we have whale watchers with night-vision gear,” he said. “Are people using the environmental laws to take care of the environment or because they don’t want change?”
NEW YORK TIMES
www.nytimes.com/
HONOLULU, Sept. 4 — A giant twin-hulled ferry designed to transform transportation between the Hawaiian Islands for tourists and residents made its maiden voyage on Aug. 26.
But today, the $85 million boat, the Alakai, lies idle in the harbor here, prevented by court order from sailing to Maui and by protesters from going to Kauai. A citizens group there was preparing to ask a judge for a similar order.
“The law requires the Superferry to prove it’s safe,” said Daniel Hempey, the group’s lead lawyer.
The luxurious 450-foot ferry, thought to be the largest aluminum ship ever built in the United States, would be the first to carry cars (up to 286), trucks and 866 passengers between the island of Oahu, Honolulu’s home, and two neighbor islands, Maui and Kauai.
Operating at 40 miles per hour, the Alakai has a state-of-the-art computer system to reduce pitching and rolling in Hawaii’s choppy seas. Wide windows allow travelers to view the islands from the sea, many for the first time. A sister ship under construction in Mobile, Ala., is planned for service between here and the Big Island in 2009.
At the center of the ferry dispute is whether the project should have been subject to an environmental assessment before the operator, Hawaii Superferry Inc., began service.
If an assessment found that the ferry could damage the islands’ unique flora and fauna, an environmental impact statement would be required, which would mean scientific studies, public hearings and the possibility of legal challenges.
But the controversy, which continues to dominate headlines here, is also about the changing nature of life in Hawaii and the impact of powerful economic interests.
“It’s symbolic politics,” says Ira Rohter, a professor of political science at the University of Hawaii. “Hawaii used to be a special place, and now it looks more and more like California. Most people feel we need a ferry, but they also want some control over how it’s going to change their lives.”
Hawaii Superferry’s chief executive, John L. Garibaldi, 54, and a resident of Hawaii for 26 years, said that when he began the project five years ago, state officials told him there was no need for an environmental assessment, a position that was upheld by two court rulings.
“We felt we were on pretty solid ground,” Mr. Garibaldi said.
Had an assessment been needed, he said, it would have posed an unacceptable risk for Hawaii Superferry’s main equity investor, J. F. Lehman and Company, which put up $85 million, and for the federal Maritime Administration, which provided a loan guarantee of $140 million. The state provided $40 million, which the company is required to repay, to build fixed ramps for the ferry at the four island ports.
Mr. Garibaldi’s argument was met with skepticism by the ferry’s main opponent, the Sierra Club. “Nonsense,” said Jeff Mikulina, the head of the club’s Hawaii chapter. “This process happens all the time, and it does not prevent a lot of businesses from expanding. It simply ensures that businesses comply with environmental laws.”
In 2005, the Sierra Club and two local groups filed suit in State District Court on Maui, demanding that an environmental assessment be done. But the state and Hawaii Superferry argued successfully that no such assessment was required. A federal court turned down a separate lawsuit by the same plaintiffs.
“From a legal standpoint, it was a close call,” said Ed Case, a lawyer and a Democrat who represented most of Oahu and the neighbor islands in Congress from 2003 to 2007. “But as a matter of public policy, a project of this magnitude, even though it’s going to benefit the state as a whole, needs to go through a public vetting process.”
Fast ferries slice through the waters around the world — the Mediterranean, the English Channel and Hong Kong harbor, to name a few. But Hawaii is different.
The islands are a major calving ground for humpback whales, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and which tend to be killed by fast ferries more than by slower ships.
Environmentalists are also concerned that the many vehicles the boat can carry will allow mongooses, which have severely depleted Oahu’s bird population, to stow away and be carried to Kauai, which has none.
In addition, the ferries threaten many local businesses, said James H. Wright, a corporate lawyer and longtime observer of Hawaii’s economy, like the inter-island shipping company, three local airlines and car rental companies.
“It will also change the dynamics of nonunion trades,” Mr. Wright said. “Now, it’s more expensive to get work like roofing or plumbing done in the neighbor islands. But with the Superferry, Oahu tradesmen will be able to take their trucks on the ferry and undercut the locals.”
The Superferry will also carry S.U.V.’s and trailered boats, allowing Oahu fishermen frustrated by the island’s depleted waters to gain access to the richer grounds of Maui and Kauai — to the discontent of local fisherman. Those boats might also involuntarily carry bits of Eucheuma seaweed, which is devastating Oahu’s biggest bay, to the neighboring islands.
All these changes seemed inevitable until Aug, 23, five days before the ferry was to begin operation, when Hawaii’s highest court overturned the Maui court ruling and found that the Superferry did require an environmental assessment. But the State Supreme Court did not say whether it could operate during the assessment process.
Mr. Garibaldi then pushed up the Superferry’s launching by two days and slashed fares for cars and passengers to $5, about a tenth of the posted price. On Aug. 26, a nearly full ferry sailed to Maui, then to Kauai and back to Honolulu. But the next day, when it tried to return to Kauai and despite the efforts of the Coast Guard to clear its path, several dozen swimmers, kayakers and surfers prevented the vessel from docking, forcing it to return here after a two-hour standoff.
A judge then issued a temporary order forbidding the Superferry to sail again to Maui until the environment assessment issue is resolved. Hawaii Superferry stopped service to Kauai, Mr. Garibaldi said, until the Coast Guard could guarantee safe docking there.
In the meantime, Mr. Garibaldi said his company had done its utmost to address environmental concerns. “We have special bottom paint that prevents micro-organisms from attaching, we don’t discharge any fluids at sea, we have whale watchers with night-vision gear,” he said. “Are people using the environmental laws to take care of the environment or because they don’t want change?”