Superferry draft EIS released

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Fact Box

DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

GETTING COPIES

Copies of the state Department of Transportation's draft environmental statement for the statewide large-capacity ferry can be found at public libraries, via the Internet or by contacting project consultants.

Copies can be downloaded online at hawaii.gov/health/environmental/oeqc/index.html/ or hawaii.gov/dot/harbors.

An electronic copy can be obtained on CD by contacting Belt Collins Hawaii, 2153 N. King St., Suite 200, Honolulu 96819, Attention: Lesley A. Matsumoto. Paper versions also are available from Belt Collins, but require a reproduction fee.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Written comments can be mailed or faxed to Katherine Kealoha, director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, 235 S. Beretania St., Suite 702, Honolulu 96813; fax: (808) 586-4186; or Michael Formby, deputy director state Department of Transportation Harbors Division, 79 S. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu 96813; fax: (808) 587-3652.

WHAT'S NEXT

The 1,200-page document faces a 45-day public comment period before the document advances in the environmental impact statement process. The final EIS document is scheduled for completion in June, according to state transportation officials.

* This notice includes a correction on hearings already held on the draft EIS.

WAILUKU - Although neither side has fully reviewed a 1,200-page draft environmental impact statement issued Thursday on harbor improvements for a "large-capacity ferry," proponents and opponents of the Hawaii Superferry were prepared to take positions on the findings of the document.

Critics called the report overly optimistic, unrealistic and inadequate. Ferry supporters said the study didn't point to any problem that couldn't be remedied.

The state Legislature requisitioned the voluminous document in October 2007 after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Transportation improperly allowed $40 million in harbor improvements for the Superferry to proceed without an environmental assessment.

In the legal maneuvers that followed, the Legislature in a special session approved Act 2, a law that allows the Superferry to operate while the EIS is being prepared. It also requires Gov. Linda Lingle to establish strict conditions on the ferry operations until the impact statement is completed and accepted.

The draft EIS addresses a range of issues - particularly at Kahului Harbor where the Superferry operates daily - including drug trafficking, the taking of natural resources from one island to the next, the protection of humpback whales, the spread of invasive species and impacts on watersports and fishing in the harbor.

The draft does note that the state's previous plans to expand Kahului Harbor by shifting passenger operations, including cruise ships and the ferry, to new facilities along the west breakwater. Lingle has held up the west breakwater developments, citing the loss of two Norwegian Cruise Line ships operating in interisland waters as well as changes in federal martime laws that make it more difficult for West Coast cruise ships to make stops in Hawaii.

As long as the state does not return to its plan to develop slips for the ferry and cruise ships on the west breakwater, the report's authors said the threats to recreational activities in the harbor are substantially, even fully, eliminated. However, if building on the west side of the harbor were to occur, it would take out reefs, surf spots and canoeing, as well as a fishing hale used by kupuna.

The draft environmental study cost the state Harbors Division $1.3 million and was prepared with the help of consultant Belt Collins Inc. The final document - to be issued after a 45-day public comment period - is scheduled for completion in June.

Mike Formby, Transportation Department deputy director in charge of harbors, said it's too early for his office "to take any substantive position on any point in the report."

"We really haven't had a chance to go through it," said Formby, who added he received the draft EIS a few days ago but has been focused on preparing projects for President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

"We don't want to distract the public by identifying any particular impacts. We want people to form their own opinions before we take a position," he said.

Much of the state's recommendations for the final document will be guided by the public's opinions, he said.

Irene Bowie, executive director of Maui Tomorrow, one of the three Maui organizations to sue for a full EIS, said on Thursday that she was not pleased with what she'd gleaned from the report after a brief review.

"I would like to say right off the bat that this is a pseudo-EIS document, and we are awaiting a decision from the state Supreme Court (to void the Legislature's Act 2) that could come any day now and stop operations and require a full study," Bowie said.

Maui Tomorrow, along with the Sierra Club and Kahului Harbor Coalition, filed a civil suit in 2005 against the state and Hawaii Superferry after the Transportation Department waived all environmental reviews on the harbor improvements that Hawaii Superferry required for its operations.

In July 2005, 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza dismissed the complaint. But in an appeal decided just as the ferry was scheduled to begin operations in August 2007, the state Supreme Court found that the environmental waiver was in error. Cardoza subsequently issued an order barring the ferry from operating until the state complied with its environmental law, requiring an environmental assessment if not an environmental impact statement.

The civil suit had demanded a full study of potential impacts of the high-speed, large-capacity ferry on a wide range of issues from Kahului traffic congestion to endangered humpback whales, fishing rights and harbor space.

Bowie characterized the draft EIS as substandard. She immediately pointed to the document's contention that preventing the spread of invasive species can be dramatically mitigated with stricter inspections than currently exist. That might be true, but those preparing the draft document did not identify a funding source for such a project from the state Department of Agriculture, Bowie said.

Other complaints from Bowie included a recommendation to use whale detection technology that is unproved and no promise from Superferry officials to stay out of whale sanctuary waters or to reduce speeds to below 25 knots.

Superferry officials said they also were reviewing the draft EIS, which the state had delayed for three months after the Superferry changed its operational plans.

"Mitigation measures proposed in the draft EIS are consistent with the operating standards and practices of Hawaii Superferry over the last year," according to a news release issued by the company Thursday afternoon. "This includes the implementation of stringent whale avoidance protocols, the inspection procedures for invasive species and the transport of natural resources."

The draft EIS used data from more than nine months of service and 708 voyages, Superferry officials said. It provides a clear picture of the company's commitment to responsible operations and environmental awareness, they said, while also pledging to continue to work with the state to address any more concerns.

Now, the Alakai only runs between Oahu and Maui. Superferry officials have contracted for a second 350-foot ferry as part of a plan to provide service to the Big Island as well, but announced last year that the service would be delayed.

The Alakai went into operation in August 2007, although the service was stopped after two days by a court order on Maui and protests at Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai.

With the Legislature's Act 2 exemption, the Alakai briefly resumed operations in December 2007 only to be stalled by severe ocean conditions and then by damage to the vessel that put it into dry dock for two months.

The state spent nearly $40 million on harbor improvements, including loading barges for Honolulu and Kahului harbors. The Kahului Harbor barge has suffered damage from severe surge that occurs periodically, particularly when there are big winter swells.

Since resuming service in April, the Alakai has been fully operational on a Oahu-Maui route but has not restarted service to Kauai.

* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.