To: "Jeff Sacher" <jsacher@kona.net>
Subject: FW: Superferry rivals, backers regroup
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:10:56 -1000
"People cannot choose which laws they will obey
and which ones they will not because of their
personal views," Bennett said. But the governor
and DOT can?
The recommendations included the use of high
pressure water cleaning of the undercarriage of
transported vehicles, the vacuuming of vehicles,
and establishment of a dog sniffing team to screen
incoming and outgoing vehicles on the Superferry.
Choices: 1) Trust that HSF will do a complete
job, knowing that their turnaround time will be
greatly increased; 2) Trust that HSF will speed
through the cleaning process in order to stay on
schedule.
Superferry officials currently have a rule that
requires owners to wash their vehicles before
transport. And who will determine which vehicles
are clean enough to board HSF and which are not?
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Thur., Sept.13, 2007
http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/13/news/story01.ht
ml
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Superferry rivals, backers regroup
2nd story below>> Expert
<http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/13/news/story01.h
tml#jump> testifies about pest hazards
STORY SUMMARY > Gov. Linda Lingle and the Hawaii
Superferry are going to Kauai, drawing vows from
protesters that they will again try to block the
vessel.
Lingle yesterday announced that extensive security
preparations have been completed so that the
350-foot, high-speed ferry can travel to Kauai on
Sept. 26.
Protesters expressed frustration and worry
yesterday at a rally held by groups opposed to the
Superferry. Some said they would be back in the
water to protest its arrival.
Lingle will hold one or two community meetings on
Kauai sometime before the return.
A human chain of protesters blocked the Nawiliwili
Harbor channels Aug. 26 and 27. The ferry has been
the subject of community protests since 2004, as
opponents demanded the ferry be subject to an
environmental assessment.
Critics fear the ferry will hit whales and bring
invasive species to Maui and Kauai and that the
added cars from Oahu visitors will clog and
despoil the island's rural lifestyle.
More than 1,000 protested on Kauai. Three were
arrested on misdemeanor charges, and the U.S.
Coast Guard cleared 20 swimmers from the channel.
State and federal officials are promising strict
enforcement of a security zone in Nawiliwili
Harbor. Lingle and state Attorney General Mark
Bennett passed out a list of 13 state laws and six
federal laws that could bring felony jail terms if
violated by protesters.
_____
FULL STORY >
art
<http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/13/news/art1a.jpg
>
TOM FINNEGAN / TFINNEGAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
<mailto:TFINNEGAN@STARBULLETIN.COM?subject=http://
starbulletin.com/2007/09/13/>
About 75 people gathered yesterday on Kauai to
implore their politicians to keep the Superferry
from returning to Nawiliwili Harbor without a
study of its effect on the environment.
By Richard Borreca and Tom Finnegan
rborreca@starbulletin.com
tfinnegan@starbulletin.com
The battle lines are drawn.
While Gov. Linda Lingle and the Coast Guard
yesterday promised a tough new response to any
illegal protests against the Hawaii Superferry,
opposition groups on Kauai vowed to return in
force in the interest of environmental safeguards.
"We will get in the water again," said Andrea
Brower, a lifelong Kauai resident who said she was
speaking on behalf of protesters who delayed and
eventually turned back the ferry last month. "We
ask you to hear our voice."
During her news conference yesterday to announce
the resumption of service to Kauai, Lingle said
she will go to Kauai sometime before the Sept. 26
start date.
Superferry officials said they'll release more
details about the ferry service in the near
future.
Lingle said she is hoping to meet on Kauai with
both opponents and supporters of the ferry.
Sen. Gary Hooser (D, Kauai), who has been critical
of the ferry, applauded that decision.
"It is overdue and it is the only way to bring
people together," Hooser said. "The people felt
they have been ignored and not listened to."
He added that some form of protest is likely to
continue while the ferry is operating without an
adequate environmental assessment.
"I am confident the people of Kauai will approach
this in a law-abiding manner and will look for
other, creative means to express their opinions,"
Hooser said.
The ship's operators started service to Maui on
Aug. 26, but Maui Judge Joseph Cardoza banned the
ship from Kahului two days later so he could
consider arguments over whether the ship can serve
the island while the environmental study is being
done. The environmental assessment is expected to
take up to eight months.
The governor's comments and the news that the
Superferry would be returning to the Garden Isle
was met with frustration and worry at a rally held
in Lihue yesterday by opposition groups.
The rally, held to thank the Kauai County Council
for a 2005 resolution asking the state to conduct
an environmental impact statement on the
Superferry, concluded with a march to the
governor's liaison's office and the office of
Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
About 75 people attended the gathering, most of
whom were at last month's protests of the
Superferry's arrival at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Jimmy Torio told Baptiste that his 11-year-old
grandson felt the need to jump in the water at
Nawiliwili on Aug. 27.
"When young people don't see leadership, they
act," Torio said. "There are 40 more kids prepared
to jump in."
Everyone who spoke said they would be back on
Sept. 26, or whenever the Alakai tried to return
to Nawiliwili.
Jimmy Trujillo, spokesman for Hui-R, said he was
in the water last month because "I was compelled
to do what is necessary to protect the laws of
this state."
Many others agreed, saying it was the Superferry
that was breaking state and federal laws, not
them.
During a news conference yesterday on Oahu, Coast
Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara admitted her
crew wasn't ready for the vehement protests when
the Superferry first came to Kauai last month.
"None of us were prepared for that level of
passion and determination to halt the Superferry,"
Brice-O'Hara said. "This was not something we were
expecting and we were very measured in our
response. These weren't terrorists."
While noting that the Coast Guard understands the
demonstrations are "people who want to make a
statement," she said the new security zone will be
enforced without exception.
"I will tell you we have looked at all the options
so that people remain safe but are held
accountable if they make the decision to violate
the security zone," Brice-O'Hara said.
Nawiliwili's long public jetty fronting the harbor
will be closed and other entrances to the harbor
will be blocked during the ferry's visit,
according to Lingle.
The governor yesterday emphasized that she was
concerned that Kauai protesters had allowed
children and teens into the water in front of the
Superferry.
"Anyone who is planning to recruit children or
teenagers to participate in illegal protests could
be held liable for child endangerment," Lingle
said.
Attorney General Mark Bennett said a team of state
prosecutors and investigators, along with county
police and prosecutors and the U.S. Justice
department, will be on hand to handle arrests if
needed.
"People cannot choose which laws they will obey
and which ones they will not because of their
personal views," Bennett said.
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<http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/13/news/story01.h
tml#top> BACK TO TOP
|
Expert testifies about pest hazards
By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com
<mailto:gkubota@starbulletin.com?subject=http://st
arbulletin.com/2007/09/13/>
WAILUKU > An expert in controlling alien pests on
Maui said she doesn't think the Hawaii Superferry
should be allowed to ship soil and rocks.
Teya Penniman said she personally feels soil and
rocks could contain invasive species that would be
harmful to Maui, since some of the pests are not
found on the Valley Isle or are found in far fewer
numbers.
Penniman, manager of the Maui Invasive Species
Committee, testified yesterday on the third day of
a Circuit Court hearing to determine if the
Superferry should be allowed to operate while
preparing an environmental assessment.
The Superferry's regular operations at Kahului
Harbor have been halted since Aug. 28, pending the
outcome of the hearing before Judge Joseph
Cardoza. The hearing continues at 10 a.m. today.
Penniman's remarks came on the heels of testimony
Tuesday by Randy Awo, Maui County chief of state
conservation enforcement, that about 900 rocks
that could have been used as cooking stones for an
imu were found Friday in three pickup trucks in
the parking lot of the Superferry at Kahului
Harbor.
The rocks, determined to have come from Paukukalo,
a community on Kahului Bay, apparently were loaded
for transport back to Oahu. They were seized by
state conservation enforcement officials.
Outside the courtroom, some native Hawaiians said
the taking of the cooking rocks was a breach in
cultural traditions and added to their worries
about the Superferry's impact.
Leslie Kuloloio, a native Hawaiian cultural
specialist, said in Hawaiian tradition, every
island is supposed to take care of its own
resources and not take from other islands.
Terry O'Halloran, director of business development
for the Hawaii Superferry, said the firm will be
taking a closer look at the transport of rocks and
has plans to conduct a risk assessment as it
operates in Hawaii waters.
"We've never said we'd never do that," he said.
O'Halloran said state public utility rules forbid
the transport of soil unless the owner can provide
a permit.
During the court hearing, Penniman warned that
there were alien species that could spread to Maui
from other islands, including the Big Island's
fire ant.
Penniman said coqui frogs are found across a span
of 100,000 acres on the Big Island and far fewer
acres on Maui.
She said she feared vehicles carried by the
Superferry will help spread coqui frogs and the
seeds of such alien plants as pampas grass.
Penniman said the state and counties lose hundreds
of millions of dollars each year because of
destruction caused by alien species that have
established themselves in the islands, including
the loss of markets due to alien fruit flies.
She said the islands are facing new threats from
gall wasps and stinging caterpillars.
Penniman said she felt that the Superferry should
not operate while conducting an environmental
assessment unless it adopts a number of procedures
suggested in her prior exchanges with its
officials.
The recommendations included the use of high
pressure water cleaning of the undercarriage of
transported vehicles, the vacuuming of vehicles,
and establishment of a dog sniffing team to screen
incoming and outgoing vehicles on the Superferry.
Superferry officials currently have a rule that
requires owners to wash their vehicles before
transport.
_________________________________________________________________
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