Attorneys representing 1,000 Friends of Kaua‘i, a local environmental group, yesterday filed an ex parte motion in Hawai‘i Fifth Circuit Court in Honolulu for a temporary restraining order to block the Hawaii Superferry from Nawiliwili Harbor. The combined 30-page document
Attorneys representing 1,000 Friends of Kaua‘i, a local environmental group, yesterday filed an ex parte motion in Hawai‘i Fifth Circuit Court in Honolulu for a temporary restraining order to block the Hawaii Superferry from Nawiliwili Harbor.
The combined 30-page document seeks a permanent injunction against the new 836-passenger, 282-car inter-island vessel.
Meanwhile, canoe paddlers, surfers, fishermen and other Kaua‘i residents voiced concerns after learning a U.S. Coast Guard proposed “emergency rule” would restrict the public to a designated area in Nawiliwili Harbor before the Superferry arrives and while it sits in port.
The 350-foot “Alakai” catamaran’s next trip from O‘ahu to Kaua‘i remains undetermined with pending court action and an unfinalized law enforcement plan to ensure safe passage.
Service is suspended at least through today, according to the company’s Web site at www.hawaiisuperferry.com.
Dan Hempey and Greg Meyers, attorneys representing 1,000 Friends, did not return calls for comment at press time.
“It’s total insanity,” said People for the Preservation of Kaua‘i spokesman Rich Hoeppner, who sees the Coast Guard’s proposed designated “demonstration area” intended to protect protesters and secure the vessel’s passage as “missing the point.”
He said the Hawai‘i Supreme Court’s Aug. 23 ruling makes it clear that the state Transportation Department needs to conduct an environmental review prior to Superferry operations.
Transportation Department officials have deferred to Second Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza in Maui to decide if the “Alakai” can run while the state assesses the potential impact to the environment, traffic and local communities — a statewide study expected to take several months.
Four days of hearings start tomorrow on a restraining order Cardoza granted that has blocked the Superferry from Maui’s Kahului Harbor since Aug. 27, after the Alakai made two successful runs to the Valley Isle.
Niumalu Canoe Club member Keala Wann called the proposed Coast Guard plan “ridiculous.”
The 28-year-old paddler said multiple long-time canoe clubs use Nawiliwili Harbor for practice Monday through Thursday evenings — the same time the Superferry is scheduled to arrive and depart there.
“It’s a horrible thing,” she said, noting at least 14 multi-person outrigger canoes out on the harbor practicing almost every evening, including nearby Kaiola Canoe Club.
Nawiliwili Yacht Club Commodore Carol Marsh said she recognizes the need to step up law enforcement, but remains concerned about members’ ability to race when the Superferry is in port.
The Coast Guard has assured residents that they would be able to apply for variances to the proposed rule, but creating a hurdle for people to use the water beyond a proposed line of demarcation roughly from Kuki‘i Point across the harbor through the southernmost end of Nawiliwili Park.
“Details on the security zones and the safe demonstration area will be distributed after the Superferry’s next voyage to Kaua‘i is announced,” a Coast Guard news release states. “Protesters who fail to comply with orders pertaining to the security zones, purposely injure or threaten to injure an enforcement officer or attempt to destruct or interfere with vessels may be punished by imprisonment for up to 10 years, and may be fined up to $25,000. Any vessel used to violate a security zone, including surfboards, kayaks and canoes, may be immediately confiscated and forfeited.”
Coast Guard officials did not return calls for comment at press time.
The previous law set a 100-yard moving perimeter centered on the Superferry.
But despite law enforcement efforts, protesters prevented the Alakai from docking Aug. 27 at Nawiliwili Harbor. The Superferry suspended service the following day.
Several Kaua‘i residents, such as Keone Kealoha, referred to the Coast Guard’s proposed rule as “martial law.”
“The cooling-off period was used to figure out how to circumvent the concerns of Kaua‘i’s citizens, not to find rational solutions to the problem or to set up a process for public feedback about their concerns,” he said in an e-mail. “Despite repeated calls from state, county and the residents of Kaua‘i for an independent EIS, the Coast Guard has decided to step up military activities against the residents of Kaua‘i.”
The Coast Guard disagreed.
“The Coast Guard, local, state and other federal authorities share a common goal of ensuring the safety and security of our ports, the vessels that call and all the people who use them,” said Capt. Vince Atkins, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu and Captain of the Port, in a news release. “We support the rights of citizens to conduct safe, peaceful and legal protests, and the Coast Guard is working with our partners throughout Hawai‘i to address security issues related to the Superferry’s next voyage here.”
