Hui-R Public Meeting
August 18, 2007

Meeting opened at 1:15 pm.
Opening address by Panel moderator Diana.

Panelist Presentations

Dayne Aipoalani (Ali’i Nui of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi)
The Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi has served a writ to the Mayor, the Governor, and Hawaii Superferry Inc. which says the ferry is welcome on the island of Kaua'i once they prepare an independent EIS (Environmental Impact Statement).

Presented by Dayne and Don Moses, the Harbormaster for the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi:

  • A writ is a federal order which supercedes Hawaii State law. They must comply with the writ in order to be in compliance with the laws of the Kingdom.
  • A petition opposing Hawaii Superferry is still being circulated and will be presented to the state government.
  • The Kingdom representatives will be present to serve law.

Rich Hoeppner (Founder of People for the Preservation of Kauai)
Lies told by Hawaii Superferry Inc.:

  1. Affordable: $398.10 for he, his wife and a car to Oahu and back.
  2. Eco-Friendly: Fuel comsumption of 1189 gallons per hour of marine diesel oil. A Passenger Jet burns 400 gallons of fuel from Honolulu to Lihue.
  3. Convenient: Leaves at 7pm from Lihue, and arrives at 10pm in Oahu. Leaves at 3pm from Honolulu and arrives at 6pm. So, there is only one hour between arriving and leaving again, unless one chooses to stay overnight.
Stephan Volker, a California Attorney, has an affinity for whales. Rich talked to Stephan several months ago. Stephan said that he would take our case "pro bono", but PPK has to cover expenses. Stephan sent a letter on May 7 to NOAA, Marine Fisheries Division, requesting copies of all the correspondence between Hawaii Superferry Inc. and NOAA regarding whales and permits. As of July 1, Stephan was going to file a case against them on grounds of the Freedom of Information Act. They have now sent 9 of the 31 pages he asked for, so Stephan can’t sue on that. Stephan has to go through administrative channels to get the rest of the documents. These remaining documents have been sent to Washington DC for “redacting” [censoring], which is an indicator of how far up the U.S. government "chain of command" directions regarding Hawaii Superferry come from. PPK now has a local attorney assisting Stephan Volker.

Juan Wilson (Editor of IslandBreath.org)
The military and it’s connection to Hawaii Superferry:

  • In early 2006, I visted the Austal.com website. The Westpac Express, stationed in Okinawa [sister ship of Hawaii Superferry], is used to ferry U.S. Marine solidiers and vehicles back and forth between the various islands in the region. It is painted as a civilian vessel, which worked well for public relations.
  • Now there is an attempt of the U.S. Navy to establish a fleet of high-speed combat vessels that are being used for civilians until they are needed for military actions.
  • Hawaii Superferry is available for the Stryker force whenever they need it, from the Schofield barracks to the Big Island and to PMRF on Kaua'i.
  • JF Lehman Associates invested ~$100 million in Hawaii Superferry. Many of the Lehman partners are ex-navy officers, and the Hawaii Superferry Board of Directors is mainly ex-U.S. Navy. The rest of the Superferry Board is Lehman Associates: David Cole, Timothy Dean, John Garibaldi, CEO of Grove Farms. Lehman has been busy redesigning the military.
  • Private military companies have less parameters in war matters. They can torture and what not. Hawaii Superferry as a commercial front operation is a strategic move. PMRF and the military can have all the Superferry maintenance subsidized by the state government and the people and have a free boat whenever they need it.
  • Is PMRF participating in RIMPAC? The Superferry might be key in this maneuver. Will they watch out for whales during this operation?
  • If the Superferry is going to carry the Stryker brigade to its range facility on the Big Island, all the vehicles use depleted uranium shells. It’s unlikely that they won’t ship the bullets until they get to the range. In any case, depleted uranium dust which remains on the military vehicles will contaminate the Superferry vessel with radioactivity, which will then mix with civilian vehicles and passengers.

Gordon LaBedz (Surfrider Foundation)
Animals and People:

  • Coqui frogs. No predators and they have a lot of babies. We will have a Coqui problem on Kauai. They belong in Puerto Rico.
  • Mongoose. No predators. Will run rampant, destroying native bird populations.
  • People. The visitor industry keeps the population working on Kauai, either directly or indirectly. The boom of the visitor industry has surpassed our infrastructure. We don’t have the sewers, the roads, etc.
  • Hawaii Superferry is marketing to fishermen and surfers. These people are not going to the Hyatt Regency and probably not going to use our visitor industry. These people will most likely camp on the beaches and our beaches don’t have the facilities. Our own people know how to use the beaches because we have a sense of ownership of them. Other people may not know this and will trash them. It is our job to protect our beaches, we’re the only ones that really can.

Dr. Lee Tepley (PhD in Physics and groundbreaking underwater cinematographer)
Threat to Humpback Whales:

  • Knife-edged Superferry pontoons reach 12 – 14 feet down into the water. Mother and baby humpback whales spend a lot of time just under the surface to breathe and live.
  • Terry O'Halloran and Terry White are executives with Hawaii Superferry Inc. They are also on the Advisory Council for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary. Is this a clear conflict of interest?
  • Why don't Hawai'i cruise ships seem to be striking whales?
    1. Cruise ships travel slowly and the whales may have time to get out of their way. Hawaii Superferry might slow down to 25 knots in certain areas. Cruise ships can go that fast, but they don’t, since the islands aren’t that far apart. They ususally travel at about half that speed.
    2. Whales may be less active at night, not surfacing to breathe that much.
    3. Cruise ships aren’t publicizing it. People are asleep, too, and won’t notice. Dead Humpback whales don’t ride cruise ship bow-bulbs because their body shape is more stout than other whales. Hawaii Superferry is a catamaran, which has two bows, and increases the chance of striking marine creatures by two.
    4. Dead Humpback Whales sometimes don’t float and don’t strand [wash up on the shore] and it’s hard to see how they died.
    5. The route map of the cruise ship "Pride of Aloha" shows that its average speed is 13 knots. The whales have more time to get out of the way. The Hawaii Superferry average speed, based on the inter-island distances and schedule times is 35 knots. 23 knots is what the Pride of Aloha reports is its cruising speed, which is measured in the open ocean, not necessarily between the islands.
  • Accidents in Hawaiian waters: 6 whales were hit in 2006 by small boats. The small boats seldom kill whales. They bleed a little and go on their way. A huge, fast boat will kill whales.
  • In the Canary Islands, after the initiation of high speed ferries, 7 Sperm whales a year were reported killed. Sperm whales have a tendency to strand, which Humpback whales do not. In the Canaries, people incorrectly thought that the pontoon of the ferry would break if they hit a whale. The operators of the vessels have found the pontoons to be very strong, and no longer stop if they hit a bump.
  • In Japan, hydro-foil ferries have been damaged, and many passengers have been severely injured when they collided with whales. With a much larger and heavier boat, such as the Hawaii Superferry, you may not even notice a collision with whales or other marine life.
  • Loud noise from Hawaii Superferry may damage the hearing of whales and dolphins.

Question posed to JoAnn Yukimura
(Member of Kaua'i County Council and present at meeting)

Are there any measures the Kaua'i County government can take? Are there are any legal issues yet unresolved?

JoAnn's response: Kauai County Council was the first county government [in 2005] to pass a resolution demanding an EIS for the Hawaii Superferry. The EIS process has failed us. Maui County has used a traffic assessment as grounds to file a legal suit. We haven’t even gotten that far.


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