The Honolulu Advertiser reveals that the State Auditor has confirmed that Superferry execs lied when they claimed the Federal government was driving their demand for an exemption from Hawai'i environmental law.
"In the end, the state may have compromised its environmental policy in favor of a private company's internal deadline," state auditor Marion Higa concluded. "It remains to be seen whether these decisions will cost the state more than its environmental policy."
4 comments:
As you read this, keep in mind that the Hawaii Superferry Company
prematurely placed its order (Jan. 2004) for the construction of the 2
superferries about 14 months BEFORE they received any exemption
from the EIS law.
HSF consistently claimed that they had time deadlines, so they needed
quick approvals, first from the PUC (Dec. 31, 2004), then from the State's
EIS law (Feb. 2005), and finally from the State Legislature (Spring 2005)
for the $40 million barges.
Special Session Act 2 asked ONLY for an audit of the EIS exemption
decision, not all of the other decisions that were pressured (PUC +
Legislative $40 Million) to meet the needs resulting from the Hawaii
Superferry's own premature order of the 2 superferries.
Hey, I heard Formby was on a Maui radio station saying the west breakwater would NOT be developed.
IS THIS TRUE? IS THERE AN ARTICLE OUT THERE ABOUT THIS?
T'anks!! :-)
Yes, it is true that DOT has said it will scale back the west breakwater construction.
It is not clear from their statement if they will still raze the kupuna's fishing hale to park the Superferry.
They indicated they will page the breakwater, fence it and use it for freight storage.
This will create challenges with the already clogged Kahului Beach Road and Ka'ahumanu intersection.
Dropping the breakwater is terrific - that breakwater would have rendered our harbor unusable to some freighters and barges during the winter swells.
However! If they leave the breakwater in the 2030 Master Plan EIS, then they can change their mind and build it any time they want.
This breakwater MUST come out of the 2030 Master Plan.
Agreed...is there an article about this? I'd like to read what Formby said. If you have his comments, can you post them?
Aloha Nui Loa.
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