Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza will rule from the bench in a hearing at 10 a.m. today on whether Hawaii Superferry can operate during an environmental assessment, Hawai‘i State Judiciary Public Affairs Director Marsha Kitagawa said yesterday. After four weeks
Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza will rule from the bench in a hearing at 10 a.m. today on whether Hawaii Superferry can operate during an environmental assessment, Hawai‘i State Judiciary Public Affairs Director Marsha Kitagawa said yesterday.
After four weeks of testimony by 29 witnesses, the state judge heard closing arguments yesterday morning from attorneys representing both sides.
Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle continues to consider convening a special legislative session that could pave the way for the Superferry to operate while the company waits for the environmental review to be completed.
The 350-foot “Alakai” catamaran has idled in Honolulu Harbor since late August after the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled the state Transportation Department erred in its decision to exempt Superferry from an environmental assessment.
Protesters on Kaua‘i and a court order on Maui have prevented the high-speed vessel from making its daily inter-island trips to and from O‘ahu.
The $85 million ship can ferry more than 800 people and 250 cars. Another ferry is being constructed in Alabama for service to the Big Island in 2009.
Three environmental groups — Kahului Harbor Coalition, Sierra Club and Maui Tomorrow — brought the legal challenge to Superferry operations.
The groups’ attorney, Isaac Hall, argued the vessel will endanger marine life, spread invasive species and present other problems to communities on Neighbor Islands.
He called for the court to ban Superferry service until the environmental review is completed, a process that could take eight months or more.
“The state and the Hawaii Superferry got together. … They should have known the exemption was not applicable,” Hall said after the hearing. “Clearly, they took a risk and they lost.”
The state has budgeted $1 million for the firm Belt Collins Hawaii to conduct the study, state Transportation Department Deputy Director Mike Formby said.
“As to what the firm will assess, consistent with the Hawai‘i Supreme Court decision, they will be charged with assessing the secondary impacts of the Hawaii Superferry, which includes, but is not limited to traffic, marine life (whales), invasive species, and the proposed mitigation measures associated with impacts,” Formby said in an e-mail yesterday.
The stuffy courtroom on tropical Maui was packed with blue-shirted Superferry employees, dark-suited attorneys and worried environmentalists held in suspense by Cardoza’s pending decision.
The judge, who in previous rulings has taken positions both for and against the ferry, gave no indication of how he would rule. He adjourned the hearing after sitting through three hours of closing arguments, putting off a decision for at least one more day.
Superferry attorney Lisa Munger asked the court for permission to sail between Maui and O‘ahu again, arguing the high-speed 350-foot catamaran is environmentally safe and has met all regulatory requirements.
Superferry officials have testified that the company is losing $650,000 a week while service is suspended.
“The consequences are severe,” Munger told the judge. “The Hawaii Superferry would need to look elsewhere.”
The company’s president, John Garibaldi, has testified the catamaran would have to leave Hawai‘i if it could not operate while the state conducts the assessment.
“We have a tremendous amount of support in the state,” he said. “We’re very optimistic.”
Voluntary measures, such as a whale avoidance policy and metering cars coming off the ship into the traffic flow, will mitigate negative environmental impacts, Superferry officials have said.
Hawaii Superferry on Aug. 28 voluntarily suspended service to Kaua‘i a day after protesters on surfboards, canoes and kayaks prevented the Alakai from docking at Nawiliwili Harbor on its second voyage to the Garden Isle.
Residents, council members and state legislators have continued to call on the state to bar Superferry from operating until an environmental assessment is completed.
Cardoza could decide to bar the ferry from service until the environmental review is completed, allow it to run if it follows speed and other restrictions, or permit it to sail normally while the study is being done.
Regardless of Cardoza’s ruling, however, Lingle says lawmakers should gather because his decision will likely be appealed.
The governor says Superferry has to have some certainty it will be allowed to operate while complying with the law.
Russell Pang, spokesman for the governor’s office, confirmed that Lingle has declared the need for a special legislative session as “critical.”
But Kaua‘i lawmakers — including state Sen. Gary Hooser and representatives Mina Morita and James Tokioka — continue to voice opposition toward such an “unprecedented” special session.
“Should we go into session, what we’re doing is exempting a private business from the law to correct a huge blunder made by the administration,” Morita said.
“The only reason to go into a special session is something that urgently affects the well-being of the public. Surely, this is not the case.”
Morita, who chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, said there is “nothing wrong” with the state’s environmental laws that requires a special session to address.
She said the statute is 30 years old and does warrant a comprehensive review, but this is something the Legislature could address when it resumes session in January.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
