Posted on: Sunday, February 27, 2005
ISLAND VOICES
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By John L. Garibaldi
For the past two years, the Hawai'i Superferry has been on course to begin providing fast, affordable transportation between Hawai'i's four main islands by early 2007. Superferry will make it possible for families divided by our inter-island channels to do something most Hawai'i residents have never had the opportunity to do — visit each other for about half the price of flying, with one-way Superferry fares as low as $42 per adult and $55 for a private car.
After public hearings on each island, the Public Utilities Commission granted the Superferry the authority to operate as a water carrier, including approval of these fares, in late 2004. Thousands of people have made it loud and clear that the Superferry is badly needed and will be enthusiastically received.
Recently, a small number of organizations that oppose the Hawai'i Superferry — an alliance of shipping companies and some environmental organizations — have deployed a new tactic in their efforts to keep the Superferry out of Hawai'i waters. They are demanding that Hawai'i Superferry submit an environmental impact statement before being allowed to move forward.
The law is crystal-clear: No EIS is required. Period.
What it does: Senate Bill 1785 requires Hawai'i Superferry to prepare an environmental impact statement for its superferry project.
What's next: A public hearing on the bill is scheduled at the Capitol on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. in conference room 224. How to get involved: To have your views heard contact Sen. Lorraine Inouye, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation and Government Operations Committee at 536-7335 or your legislative representative. For a complete listing of lawmakers and their districts or for more information on this bill go to www.capitol.hawaii.gov. The call for an EIS is simply a ruse with which to scuttle the Superferry. How do we know it's a ruse? Because special legislation (Senate Bill 1785) has been introduced to require that Hawai'i Superferry do an EIS and no other company. Clearly, Hawai'i Superferry is not required to do an EIS, or its opponents would not feel compelled to introduce special legislation to treat Hawai'i Superferry differently from every other ocean transportation company in the state.
Hawai'i Superferry does not need an EIS — any more than other shipping or cruise company — because it will be using existing harbor facilities on routes that have been served for over 100 years by ships, barges and high-speed ferries. Existing harbor space will be used to assemble vehicles and passengers who are waiting to board, and infrastructure improvements, such as vehicle ramps, loading barges, etc., are exempt from EIS under harbor regulations. And we have been working diligently with harbor officials to find ways to accommodate the needs of all the various harbor users.
Hawai'i Superferry is committed to our environment. We surf, swim and sail in the same waters that will be home to our ferries, and we love our ocean. We have studied how to create the safest, cleanest, most energy-efficient and quietest way to travel between our islands. Our zero-wastewater-discharge vessels use one of the world's cleanest, most energy-efficient marine engines, which exceed the EPA's strict 2007 emissions requirements.
We are committed to developing policies and practices to prevent the spread of agricultural pests and alien species from island to island. Working with the Department of Agriculture, Hawai'i Superferry included in its PUC application strict rules to prevent the movement of alien species. We will continue to work with the Department of Agriculture and the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species in our effort to do even better than required by existing inter-island transportation rules.
We have also been working for over two years with marine mammal scientists and the National Humpback Whale Sanctuary to formulate a whale-avoidance policy that is far stricter than sanctuary standards and more extensive than any other we can find. This includes changing our routes during whale season to avoid the shallow areas where over 90 percent of Hawai'i's whales congregate.
Working with communities and government officials, we will also develop plans to ensure that traffic is not an issue. What arrives by ferry leaves by ferry, so there will be no net traffic impact to any island. There will be adequate staging areas inside the ports so traffic will not back up or build up on roads, and arriving vehicles will be managed to ensure an orderly traffic flow.
We have done all this and more as a result, in part, of numerous meetings we have held to hear concerns and get input from the members of various communities and organizations on Maui, Kaua'i, the Big Island and O'ahu. This is a continuing effort we call "real solutions to real issues," and we are in the process of establishing a board of advisers for each island because we are eager to ensure that we continue to hear everyone's voice. We are grateful to those who have already met with us with an open mind.
Hawai'i Superferry will serve the many local people who are not now traveling inter-island due to the high cost of flying. We project that more than 70 percent of our business will come from local residents — more than half from the Neighbor Islands.
Our state-of-the-art vessels will provide Hawai'i residents with high-speed, smooth-riding, low-cost transportation. Passengers will be able to drive their own cars or trucks onto the Superferry in Honolulu and, a few hours later, drive off in Kahului, Nawiliwili or Kawaihae. Neighbor Island residents will be able to "drive" their own vehicles to Honolulu. The trips from O'ahu to Kaua'i and Maui will take only about three hours; the voyages to and from the Big Island just over four hours. Service will start with one ferry. When the second ferry is completed in 2008, service will expand to provide daily roundtrips between O'ahu and each of the other three islands.
Superferry will help strengthen and diversify Hawai'i's economy. It will serve businesses and small farmers who do not now engage in inter-island commerce but would benefit from an alternative form of transportation that is less expensive than air freight and faster than a barge. Hawai'i Superferry expects to directly create over 300 new jobs; more than twice that many could be created outside the company, thanks to its economic stimulus.
Hawai'i Superferry will greatly improve the quality of life in our Islands. If its opponents sink the Superferry, it is the people of Hawai'i who will be the losers.
John L. Garibaldi is chief executive officer of Hawaii Superferry. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
But the Superferry's opponents know they need something as wholesome as "mom and apple pie" to destroy an enterprise that promises to reunite people with their tutus on Maui and Kaua'i. That wholesome something is a call to "defend the environment." They know an EIS will sink the Superferry because it will take nine to 18 months to produce, and many additional months to wrangle over — while Superferry's "drop-dead date" for having all government permits in place is June 30, just four months from now. If that date is missed, the Superferry's carefully crafted financing package will fall apart. And our first vessel, now under construction, will be sold to other buyers; construction will never start on the second.
Superferry Bill
