Cruise hearings pursued
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
An environmental law firm charged yesterday that Holland America Line's decision to cancel cruise stops on Moloka'i is tied to the shelving of legislation on cruise ship wastewater regulations.
The cruise line announced Tuesday that it was canceling all scheduled visits to Moloka'i through 2004 after residents had raised concerns about the impact of the tour stops on the community and environment.
Earthjustice and Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter say Sen. Cal Kawamoto, D-18th (Waipahu, Crestview, Pearl City), and Rep. Joseph Souki, D-8th (Wailuku, Waiehu), chairmen of the Senate and House transportation committees, have held the environmental bills at the behest of cruise lines and are now pointing to the Moloka'i cancellations as evidence of the cruise lines' cooperation.
But the environmental groups say even through the visits have been canceled for the time being, the bills should still be given a hearing.
"I'm hoping no one's under the illusion that tossing a bone to Moloka'i is going to resolve the ongoing dispute about Moloka'i itself, but even more so, the larger dispute regarding cruise ship pollution throughout the state," said Isaac Moriwake, an attorney for Earthjustice. "That's not going to cut it in terms of resolving these larger issues."
Earthjustice represents Hui Ho'opakele 'Aina in a lawsuit filed against state agencies and two cruise lines to stop the Moloka'i cruise stops until an environmental review is done. The group was unable to get an injunction to halt the visits and was seeking a summary judgment in the case.
Kawamoto and Souki said last Thursday that they had asked Holland America Line and Princess Cruises to cancel visits to Moloka'i until a community meeting can be held to address environmental and health issues.
On Friday, Holland America and Princess suspended all Moloka'i stops at least through spring pending a meeting with the Moloka'i community. This week, Holland America announced it would cancel all Moloka'i cruise stops through 2004.
The two lawmakers have refused to hear bills to regulate cruise ship discharges, saying cruise ships already abide by guidelines outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed with Gov. Ben Cayetano last year.
"Rep. Souki and I decided that the (memorandum of understanding) is more restrictive than the bills would be, and it's something that the cruise ship industry themselves worked on with the state," Kawamoto said. "The cruise ships are trying to be good business people and they're trying to work with us in the state and they in good faith have done that, so there's nothing more we can ask them to do."
Souki said there is no relation between the bills governing cruise ship discharge and the lawmaker's request to Holland America to cancel the Moloka'i cruise stops.
"It's just that I felt kind of sorry for the people on Moloka'i," Souki said.
"They're never satisfied," he said of supporters of the legislation dealing with cruise ship discharge. "They should be happy that something is happening, that somebody is listening to somebody."
Kawamoto said the cruise lines "are not responding to any kind of threats or anything like that (in canceling the visits). They just want to be good people and work with the state."
Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter director Jeff Mikulina said holding a Moloka'i community meeting is "no proxy for regulating the industry."
"We want regulations on the books," he said. "While there may be some good actors out there, there are some people in the past that would rather pollute the water than do what's right."
Earthjustice and the Sierra Club hoped that a separate water pollution bill amended to include cruise ships would serve as a vehicle for new laws regulating cruise ship discharge, but the bill was referred to four committees and is unlikely to survive the session.
Meanwhile, the community meeting requested by Kawamoto and Souki has not been scheduled and likely will not happen until after the legislative session, according to the lawmakers.
Holland America Line representatives said they may reconsider visiting Moloka'i after the community meeting.
"I don't think this is forever," said Rose Abello, a spokeswoman for Holland America. "It's about the (cruise) industry and actually the island deciding what the future's going to be."
Sandy Beddow, executive director of the Moloka'i Visitors Association, said: "I am really disappointed that a small vocal minority has canceled for the community one great economic chance for Moloka'i here. I guess they just didn't want to do this any longer, you know, deal with this."
Beddow said that Moloka'i businesses hoping for an economic stimulus would also likely be disappointed. She said she would like to tell the cruise lines that many community members want the ships to stop at Moloka'i.
