Superferry

LIHU‘E — John Garibaldi, chief executive officer of Hawaii Superferry, told Kaua‘i County Council members Thursday a forthcoming draft operating plan will address community concerns about the impact of the Superferry on Kaua‘i.

Members of the council say they don’t oppose the project, but approved a resolution asking an environmental impact statement for the Superferry venture be done before the project is approved.

Councilmembers are voicing concerns that the project would increase traffic on Kaua‘i and bring alien plant and animal species to the island.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said while she and other council members would like to see Hawaii Superferry become a reality, she would rather see environmental, traffic and social impacts addressed specifically through an environmental impact statement (EIS), before the project is approved by the state Public Utilities Commission.

“I am not actually so easy to please as some of the council members here. I want full disclosure of the impacts, and assurances that the impacts will be mitigated before I say I am in support of the Superferry,” Yukimura told Garibaldi during a meeting of the council’s Planning Committee at the historic County Building.

She said a council resolution calling for an EIS is not about lodging opposition against the project but is about “good planning” and protecting Kaua‘i’s way of life and environment.

Garibaldi said he also wants to accomplish such goals and that they can be reached through an operating plan that is being developed now.

Garibaldi attended the meeting at the request of Yukimura, who chairs the committee.

Yukimura acknowledged the Superferry will allow Kauaians to travel to other Neighbor Islands at costs lower than flying, will bring more commerce to the island, and will help Kaua‘i farmers bring their produce to larger, off-island markets.

But those benefits would not be as significant if the Superferry operations bring harm to the island, she said.

“We are in dire need of those benefits, but not if the costs (the impacts) are far greater,” she said. “And so how do we know the benefits are greater than the cost? It is by all those issues.”

Garibaldi said the plan will look at impacts Yukimura discussed, and will look at security issues, identification of passengers, and random inspections of vehicles that will be transported among the islands, ways to prevent the transporting of drugs, and methods to reduce the spread of invasive species to Kaua‘i, including coqui frogs, mongoose and alien plants.

Yukimura questions Superferry executive Superferry customers will be able to find out what they can and cannot bring aboard the vessels when they book their trips, Garibaldi said.

What residents can bring aboard the Superferry will be reinforced through the viewing of educational videos, he said.

Exotic animals can’t be transported among the islands, but domestic dogs and cats can be shipped, Garibaldi said. Cattle and horses will be shipped as well.

Officers of the U.S. Coast Guard, officials with the state Department of Transportation Harbors Division, and the public, will all have a chance to study, give recommendations, and scrutinize a draft plan, before a final one is presented to the state for approval, Garibaldi said.

Yukimura said it is fine that the plan is in the works, but asked, “When do we get the assurance of what your security plans will be?” She wanted a timetable for the delivery of the plans.

All the details of the plan will be hammered out before the operation of the first Superferry gets underway in Hawaiian waters in early 2007, Garibaldi said.

A second Superferry is scheduled to be put in the water in the early part of 2008, Garibaldi said.

A state legislative committee held up a bill requiring a detailed environmental study for the Superferry. Leaders of the project had said that requirement would have killed $200 million and more in funding for their plans.

Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro said he supported the council resolution partly because he didn’t know enough about the Superferry. But he said his confidence in the project grew after hearing Garibaldi’s presentation to the council.

But as a longtime rancher, Kaneshiro said he wanted to make sure that vehicles coming to Kaua‘i off the Superferry don’t contain a “fire weed” seed that is poisonous to livestock.

The infestation could cripple the island’s horse and cattle industry, Kaneshiro said.

Garibaldi said all vehicles will be cleaned at the ports before they are brought on the Superferry.

Members of the Kaua‘i chapter of the Sierra Club said having an environmental impact study done was imperative. “Only when the facts are revealed through an EIS can our county decide if the Superferry is right for Kaua‘i,” according to a letter the group sent to members of the council.

Councilmembers Mel Rapozo and Shaylene IseriCarvalho had concerns about the security that would be provided for the Superferry operation. Inspection strategies, including those for finding drugs will be used, and the Coast Guard officers will employ security measures as well, Garibaldi said.

Councilman Jay Furfaro said he doesn’t oppose the project, but wants more information about the economics of the project.

Council chairman Kaipo Asing said the project will provide a convenient and more inexpensive way for Kaua‘i residents to get to another island. However, impacts from the project have to addressed and mitigated, he said.

Among other questions, Council vice chairman James Tokioka had questions about the quality of freight service for transportable produce.

• On the Web: www.hawaiisuperferry.com.

• Lester Chang, staff writer, 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.

Superferry Facts

• The first vessel is under construction in Mobile, Ala., and when the 345-foot-long, double-hulled craft becomes operational, it will accommodate up to 866 passengers and up to 282 cars or 28 trucks or buses and 65 cars.

• The project is geared toward helping residents who don’t travel as often between islands due to high-priced airplane tickets. One-way tickets sell for between about $70 to $120, depending on flying restrictions.

• The trip from O‘ahu to Kaua‘i and Maui will take three hours. From 2007 to the summer of 2008, a single Superferry vessel will provide round-trip service from Honolulu to the Big Island and Kaua‘i.

Daily trips to the Big Island and Kaua‘i will be offered when the second Superferry ship begins service in 2008.

• Because of the high cost of interisland flying, the airline industry in Hawai‘i has lost about 400,000 customers each year, a decline of 22 percent in travelers since 2000. At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i are traveling to the U.S. Mainland.

• One-way tickets from Kaua‘i to O‘ahu will be $60, although a discount of $5 will be offered for advanced booking, and $3 will be knocked off the ticket for booking on the Internet.

• People who book in advance on the Internet can expect to pay $52, or put out another $20 for “club-class” tickets.

• A cruise shiplike atmosphere, relaxed dining, a play area for children, television, movie service and Internet access are some of the amenities that will be offered aboard the Superferry.

• Source: John Garibaldi, Hawaii Superferry