I’m hoping that the costs associated with the recent earthquake will impede the plans for the so called “Hawaii Super Ferry.” The ferry is clearly a money-making venture inevitably bound to impact the way of life of the local residents in a terrible and negative way. The truth of it is that we don’t know the impacts because our Democratic legislators and our Republican Governor have neglected to provide an EIS.

But first, let me digress. Remember the fools in the Federal Government and especially, the Pentagon that wanted to test nuclear weapons by dropping them down a fault line in the Earth off the coast of Alaska? Remember the Amchitka tests? Sounds incredible you younguns? Please go here to read all about it: 30Years After The legacy of America’s largest nuclear test. As foolish and stupid as it sounds our government permitted this to happen several years ago. Pooping in the bathtub metaphors come readily to mind. It is interesting to review this event especially in the light of the flap over the North Korea recent test. Lots of folks protested but they jammed it down our throats despite our common sense rejection of the very concept.

The aftershocks of those blasts are still being felt. Despite claims by the AEC and the Pentagon that the test sites would safely contain the radiation released by the blasts for thousands of years, independent research by Greenpeace and newly released documents from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that the Amchitka tests began to leak almost immediately. Highly radioactive elements and gasses, such as tritium, americium-241 and plutonium, poured out of the collapsed test shafts, leached into the groundwater and worked their way into ponds, creeks and the Bering Sea. At the same time, thousands of Amchitka laborers and Aleuts living on nearby islands were put in harm’s way. Dozens have died of radiation-linked cancers. The response of the federal government to these disturbing findings has been almost as troublesome as the circumstances surrounding the tests themselves: a consistent pattern of indifference, denial and cover-up continues even
today.

In Hawaii today, a similar stupid, foolish, shortsighted and selfish event called the “Superferry” is unfolding. Like the Amchitka event one does not need to be a scientist to understand the ramifications and impacts a ferry of this type will have on our small outer-island communities. See the following list of some of the common sense list of concerns and questions that need to be fully investigated with at the very least an unbiased EIS as a tool and the results presented to all concerned parties:

  • If it is determined that the Superferry does harm the environment, who will pay to mitigate the damages?
  • By the State of Hawaii not requiring the Superferry to get an EIS, does it decrease the Superferry liability in case of damages?
  • Social Impacts: Who will pay for the obvious increased OUTER-ISLAND social services (Police, etc.) due to the increase in crime and homeless provided by non-secure interisland vehicular access that the Superferry will obviously provide?
  • Physical Impacts: Who will pay for invasive species and pest erradication if it turns out that rats and other pest and vermin can hitchhike freely on incoming vehicles?

The above are just a few of the common sense concerns and questions that caution against the planned Superferry. Shouldn’t we at least know what we are getting into? Let us please look before we leap!

Now despite a number of Hawaii citizens common sense rejection of the very concept it looks like the project called the “Superferry” continues to be a scary proposition especially for many outer-island Hawaii citizens. The Interisland Ferry is a business venture that somehow our Democratic State Senate and our Republican Governor have decided to impose without the benefit of an EIS. I am told that at a public meeting when asked if she would consider asking the developers to do an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Governor Lingle refused. This ferry will be jammed down our throats if we want it or not and if it damages our environment and way of life or not. There is plenty of blame to go around as far as I can see. Where is the “drug fighter” Duke Aiona on this issue? It is obvious that the Superferry will make inter-island drug distribution much easier and interdiction harder. The Senate also fell down on the job in preventing this from happening without an EIS. the Senate Transportation and Government Operations Committee has voted to have SB 1785 killed in committee. In the 2005 legislative session, Senate Bill 1785, would have required Hawaii Superferry to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Superferry CEO John Garibaldi says that, in preparing an EIS, “The delay would cause investors to pull their support, effectively sinking the effort to bring ferries back to Hawaii.” On September 29, 2005, U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor dismissed a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups in August of 2005 seeking a full environmental impact statement for a proposed interisland ferry system. Hawaii Superferry Inc. can now proceed with its plans to operate its vessels in Hawaii waters in early 2007.

Okay, here’s some more background articles to bing you up to speed.:

Waters have been choppy for Hawaii interisland ferry Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 4, 2006 by Mark Niesse Associated Press HONOLULU — Without passenger boats, bridges or tunnels linking the islands of Hawaii, the state’s four island counties in some ways are as isolated from each other as they are from the mainland. That may change when the Hawaii Superferry, a four-story catamaran, begins running from Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, to Maui and Kauai in a little over a year. A second boat connecting Honolulu with the Big Island is expected to start service in 2009.

“This is like the coming of the jet age. It’s a new transportation mode,” said John Garibaldi, president of Hawaii Superferry. “How much of the beauty of Hawaii do you experience from 20,000 feet in the air?”

Over the past several decades, other boat services have tried to provide a viable alternative to commercial airliner service to move people around the islands, but every effort has failed.

The latest ferry service was originally scheduled to start this year, and it still has a long way to go before its new July 1, 2007, launch date. Even if the $235 million project starts then, it’s unclear whether it will be able to turn a profit.

From the Star Bulletin:

Tuesday, January 13, 2004 Ferry venture accelerates Hawaii Superferry has secured a pact to buy two ships, as well as investment
advice and commitments By Tim Ruel truel@starbulletin.com

The vision of an interisland ferry system has taken another step forward, with a shipbuilder signing a conditional agreement to supply two 340-foot catamaran vessels to Hawaii
Superferry
, contingent on a series of financing arrangements.

Hawaii Superferry said yesterday that Austal USA has agreed to build the two high-speed ships, which would hold 900 passengers and as many as 280 vehicles, for delivery between 2006 and 2008. The vessels would be able to travel up to 45 miles per hour, reaching Maui and Kauai from Honolulu in three hours and the Big Island from Honolulu in four hours.

Each vessel costs about $75 million, and Austal has agreed to invest more than $10 million in the venture, said John Garibaldi, a partner in Hawaii Superferry and former chief financial officer ofHawaiian Airlines.

Hawaii Superferry has estimated that a family of five traveling by car to the neighbor islands from Oahu could use the ferry service for about half the cost of flying and renting a car, Garibaldi said.

A start-up company, Hawaii Superferry seeks to raise around $3 million in venture capital by the end of March, with help from isle investor John Dean, former chairman of the holding company of California’s Silicon Valley Bank. The company has been talking with investors in Hawaii and on the mainland, Garibaldi said. Tim Dick, founder and chairman of Hawaii Superferry, previously founded Grassroots Enterprise Inc., an Internet political and advocacy software business in San Francisco, raising $35 million.

Also from the Star Bulletin.

Editorials Monday, July 11, 2005 OUR OPINION Ferry operator should address concerns

This year’s Legislature approved an expenditure of $40 million for harbor improvements to prepare for the ferry and rejected a bill that would have required the company to prepare an environmental impact statement. John Garibaldi, the company’s chief executive officer, said delays caused by such a requirement would have jeopardized $200 million in funding.

Some links:

dkosopedia.com/superferry..

Hawaii Superferry Corporate Website

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