HONOLULU — Gov. Linda Lingle is criticizing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann over his remarks about her handling of the Superferry controversy.

Hannemann, the mayor of Honolulu, contended Thursday Lingle will not allow his proposed commuter rail project to move forward while she is in office.

Lingle has promised a thorough review of the project's environmental impact study but has yet to receive it from the city. First the federal review must be completed, and that is taking months longer than anticipated.

Hannemann said the irony is Lingle "blew the Superferry" because she didn't want to conduct a full environmental report on the interisland vessel.

Lingle said in a statement Friday that Hannemann's comments were "misinformed and patently false."

She says the state Supreme Court blocked the Superferry in March 2009 with an unprecedented reading of state environmental law.