LIHU'E — About 120 Kaua'i residents met with state Department of Transportation officials yesterday and most opposed the return of the Hawaii Superferry to the Garden Isle.

The Superferry began service between O'ahu and Kaua'i in August but was soon turned back by protesters on surfboards and in kayaks who blocked the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor.

More than six months later, opposition remains strong here, at least from those who attended two meetings yesterday at Kaua'i Community College.

The speakers were concerned about the safety of whales and other marine life, the transport of invasive species from island to island, traffic and crime.

"I can guarantee you if the ferry comes back to Kaua'i it will never get to its dock in Nawiliwili Harbor," said Rich Hoeppner, chairman of People for the Preservation of Kaua'i, a group opposed to the ferry.

Although speakers were passionate in their comments to Mike Formby, deputy DOT director for harbors, and other state officials, they didn't have much positive to say.

If there were Superferry supporters among the 40 or so people in the first meeting, they didn't testify. A night meeting with about 80 people attending also drew mostly negative comments.

Superferry operations between O'ahu and Maui were halted last year after the state Supreme Court ruled that the state had to conduct an environmental assessment of the ferry's impact before it could sail. The Legislature later met in a special session and passed a law that allowed the Superferry to operate while the environmental study is conducted.

The company's 350-foot, high-speed catamaran operated for several weeks in December and January but was put in drydock for maintenance and repairs on Feb. 13 and is expected to return to service April 23.

The two meetings yesterday were intended to give Kaua'i residents an opportunity to ask questions about the environmental assessment the state is conducting with the help of consultant Belt Collins.

At one meeting, Sandra Herndon said she was among Kaua'i residents who petitioned Gov. Linda Lingle for an environmental study regarding the Superferry two years ago.

"What I'd like to ask now, if it is possible for Belt Collins to deliver an independent study," Herndon said, adding that the company seemed to be "intertwined with the Superferry corporation."

The economic model that assumes Hawai'i will need more large harbor space "to continue to import all its food and goods" will crumble under the rising price of oil, said architect and planner Juan Wilson, representing the organization Island Breath.

The state needs improvements in small harbors for fishermen and small boats, "not a 40,000-horsepower, 40 mph football field," Wilson said.

Superferry President and CEO John Garibaldi, who was not at the meeting, said yesterday in a phone interview that repairs of the Alakai are going well and he remains "cautiously optimistic" that the vessel will resume service to Maui on April 23 as planned. He declined to say how much the repairs cost but said much of the cost has been borne by the ship's maker.

Garibaldi said although the company hopes eventually to resume service to Kaua'i, it won't even broach that subject for months at soonest. He said the company is focused on resuming service to Maui.

State and Belt Collins officials didn't respond to speaker comments at the meeting, which is part of a series being held on every island this month.

They said they will use ideas gathered from the testimony in focusing on the environmental study, Formby said. The draft environmental study is expected in October, which will be followed by a formal 45-day comment period and a final document in spring 2009, he said.

Reach Diana Leone at dleone@honoluluadvertiser.com.