Kaua'i Testimony on Superferry

From: Richard Hoeppner, March 19, 2008, afternoon testimony for Act. 2,
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/splsession2007b/bills/GM126_.PDF:

'This hearing is an effort in futility, it is a sham, as is Act II that requires it. Act II is a bastardization of the rule of law and a prostitution of the legislative process. There are currently two cases filed with the Hawaii Appeals Court to determine it’s constitutionality, which [should] make this process irrelevant.

The Act itself makes this process irrelevant under Part III, which relates to this EIS by stating: “Nothing in this Part shall be deemed or construed to impose a condition precedent to any activity authorized under Parts I, II, or IV of this act.”

This process is One Million Dollars wasted, and will have NO effect on any impacts to our environment.

The Governor has thus far blocked an Audit required under Part I, Page 4, Line 5, relating to how the State determined the exemption for an EIS on the Superferry. That Audit could also make this process irrelevant, and [this] should be delayed until that Audit is completed.

If you insist on carrying out a False EIS, then the Act itself demands that you earn your Million Dollars.

The Act itself lists effects that are likely to be caused by Superferry. In Part II it lists what effects the Governor must consider on Page 16, lines 5 through 15. These same effects are listed in Part IV, page 45, lines 1 through 13, showing the impacts that the task force is to consider.

Why should you not be required to cover the same issues that the Governor and the Task Force are required to consider, and they are:

1. Ocean life and marine animals and plants, including a whale avoidance policy and procedures
2. water resources and quality
3. harbor infrastructure
4. vehicular traffic
5. public safety and security
6. controlling the spread of invasive species
7. cultural resources, including hunting, fishing, and native Hawaiian resources
8. economic consequences and impact
9. other natural resources and community concerns

Item (5) line 10 of Page 16 lists “Public safety and security” which hasn’t been talked about very much. With Superferry history of seasickness and floors afloat with vomit because they ran out of barf bags, there has to be a health issue that should be examined.

If Superferry hits a[...] whale and causes more damage to the auxiliary rudders, could the hulls be cracked to an even greater extent, causing the craft to sink? The Coast Guard distinguishes between “life boats” and “life rafts” for ocean going vessels. Does Superferry have sufficient safety craft on board to accomadate the number of passengers it is capable of carrying? These are issues you must examine.

I [Rich] have [recently] questioned Superferry personnel and to their knowledge, life vests and '8 to 10 inflatable life rafts are all they have available....' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liferaft#Liferaft_versus_Lifeboat

Read Act II, the unconstitutional Superferry bill, and you will see what DOT’s own law requires that you do.'

I, Brad, am still researching the above point regarding liferafts and have a call into people who should know to find out more on this.

Also, Rich Hoeppner had another very interesting statement presented on July 7, 2007, at the 3rd HSF Meeting w/the Kauai community required by the Senate. There were about 150 people in attendance at that time:

'There are so many unanswered questions regarding the Hawaii Superferry. How can so many presumably intelligent people not see the difference between the Superferry operation and that of Young Brother’s and Matson lines? Both of the latter have been in operation for over a hundred years, 1900 and 1862, have proven themselves effective without causing problems and without which the outer islands could not function. Everybody knows the impacts of these companies on the Hawaiian Islands and it is accepted by all.

The Superferry operation on the other hand is new, unproven, and totally unique. No other craft sailing Hawaiian waters travels at even half the speed, no other craft accommodates up to 250 drive on/drive off private vehicles, no other craft [would dock] at all four major ports on a daily basis, and no other craft utilizes the narrow catamaran hulls which can be deadly to whales, as evidenced by similar craft in the Canary Islands. Nobody knows what the environmental and cultural impact of the Superferry will be on our islands, except possibly Superferry promoters, causing them to resist the EIS.

More important than any of the above information, is the integrity and truthfulness of the people involved in the promotion of this project. They still advertise their operation as affordable and convenient, with weekend fares at $52 per person and $65 per car. In very fine print is the mention of a fuel surcharge based on marine diesel oil (MDO) priced at $300 per metric ton, with a 2% rise in fare price for each 10% rise is in MDO. They also know that the present MDO price is $585. It was as high as $790 just a few months ago and is on the rise since the elections. Is this deceptive, or outright dishonesty? [MDO is well over $900 per metric ton right now, 3/29/08, three times the pricing cost that HSF originally calculated, see: http://www.bunkerworld.com/markets/prices/]

1. They advertise how great it will be for the small farmer from Kauai to take his produce to Honolulu on the Superferry. That small farmer will have to pay $1,360 to get his truck and produce to Oahu and back, will get into Honolulu at 9:30PM from Kauai, will have to pay for a Hotel, and have only until about 1:30PM the next day to get rid of his produce. He will have to sell a hell of a [lot] of Papaya to cover that cost. Those traveling from Oahu to Maui will have to be at the port to be inspected by about 4AM; that is anything but convenient. Again, where is the honesty?

They advertise that their boat is eco-friendly. I went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting last week where Superferry was the star. They had a new folder with allegedly all new information. It was much of the same information, same claims they have been making about studies and cooperation with agencies, but again, generalities with no details; the appendix was not included.

They did have an Austal specification sheet for the Auto Express 107, their craft, but one very important specification was eliminated form their Austal sheet. The fact that their superferry burns 1,981 gallons of diesel fuel per hour, or nearly 12,000 gallons round trip Oahu to Kauai and back. Is that eco-friendly and does their elimination of that detail from the spec sheet give an indication of how honest they are, or is it just one more indication of their deceitful tactics.

2. Mr. Fukanaga claims he and his staff determined that Superferry was entitled to an exemption from an EIS. Is that true or did the order come from his boss, Governor Lingle? How did Lehman, Garibaldi and others know they would get fast track treatment to invest millions without going through normal channels. The state environmental board has said that this exemption was wrong.
Mr. Fukanaga, did you do an investigation before you exempted them from an EIS, and invested $40M for barges and ramps at our docks that can only be utilized by a Superferry type craft? Did you check the backgrounds of the people involved in Superferry to determine past history as CEOs, CFOs and VPs in prior ventures?

Were you aware of the background of Mr. Lehman, Chairman of the Board of Superferry? Is this the same John F. Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan [...]? Is this the same John F. Lehman that was a co-author of Project for a New American Century, promoting policies that produced the catastrophe of Iraq, and who was a member of the 911 Commission that many people think was a white wash of what happened at the twin towers?

Is Mr. Garibaldi the same John Garibaldi that was CFO of Hawaiian Airlines shortly before they declared bankruptcy, and then accepted an enormous severance package?

3. Is Mr. O’Halloran the same Terry O’Halloran who is chairman of the Whale Sanctuary Advisory Committee that approved a whale avoidance policy of two people with binoculars watching for whales? How convenient to be on the Sanctuary Advisory Committee and be Director of Business Development for Superferry. Does this obvious conflict of interest indicate lack of integrity?

Is Mr. White, Vice President of Superferry, the same Terry White who is also on the Whale Sanctuary Advisory Committee, and was involved in the American Classic Cruise Lines that filed the largest bankruptcy in the history of a U.S. Maritime Administration backed loan, the same U.S. agency backing a $140M loan for the Superferry.

Did you check the background and financial interests of another superferry VP, Tig Krekel? Is this the same Tig Krekel who has been President, Vice President, or CEO, of Corporations such as Boeing Satellite Systems, Hughes Space and Communications, and Aerospace Equipment Systems group of Allied Signal? Is this the same Tig Krekel who is involved with a company named Sea Launch, which launches satellites form the equator directly south of Hawaii?

Mr. Fukanaga, did you ask for an accounting of financial viability of the nearly $300M project before committing $40M of harbor funds? Is your promotion from head of Hawaii Harbors to head of Department of Transportation justified if you didn’t? Many people don’t think so.

4. Why did the people who initiated the Superferry operation choose a vessel 107 meters, 350 feet in length with a capacity of 282 cars and 866 passengers when the former CEO of Austal, Mr. Alan Lerchbackeer recommended a 73 meter craft with less capacity, less expensive, cheaper to operate, and less polluting? He also had concerns about the financial viability, stating that with the current vessel, they will need 400 to 500 passengers per trip to break even. Superferry now estimates [then estimated] they will have average loads of 400 passengers and half the vehicles it is capable or carrying. Why did they design the ferry with roll on/roll off decks so high off the water requiring $40M in dock modifications? Why the fuel capacity of 56,800 gallons just to do inter-island travel?

Is this an intentional design for bankruptcy? Will Lehman and Krekel then purchase the vessels for pennies on the dollar for their intended use? [...] Many people are questioning the financial viability of the Superferry operation. Will it end up in bankruptcy with the taxpayers holding the bag for nearly $200M. Do you think these people are the least bit interested in the culture or environment of Kauai?

5. With the Senate Bill #1276 headed for the House, it may die there, or even if it passes the House in it’s watered down version, our wonderful Governor will have final say with a veto, BUT I am sure the over $25,000 in contributions to her last political campaign by individuals connected with Superferry will not influence her decisions about the bill passing, which has been backed by Maui, Hawaii Island, and Kauai County Councils, and the State Senate. If Senate Bill #1276 would pass the house without being killed by one single individual, House Rep. Joseph Souki, Governor Lingle’s veto would be going against every single political body in the State of Hawaii, except Oahu Council.

There is one step left, and it is probably the only thing Superferry will understand, that is legal action on all the errors they have committed over the last four years. They say that has already been attempted and they won, but they leave out the fact that one case is still pending at the State Supreme Court, and to this date, no court has heard arguments about the Endangered Species Act or the Marine Mammals Act, and there are legal entities waiting to see what happens with SB1276. As Yogi Berra said, 'It ain’t over till it’s over.''

Richard Hoeppner, July 7, 2007

Superferry Suckers Hawai'i

The Navy finally acknowledged that the Superferry is a test prototype for their new high speed vessel...and not a very good one at that. From the Navy News

In the case of one ship the Navy is confident it wants — the aluminum-hulled trimaran that General Dynamics and shipbuilder Austal are offering as LCS 2 — Roughead said he remains a believer in the ship’s novel design and materials, even after yard problems and problems with an earlier civilian variant on the design.

The Navy acknowledged in February that some transverse support beams under the LCS 2’s flight deck had bowed in the shipyard, and that the Navy and Austal would review the cost and possible delays involved with repairs.

And another aluminum trimaran built by Austal, the Hawaii Superferry, stopped service until April 22 and is laid up in a shipyard with hull cracks near its auxiliary rudders, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.

Roughead said he didn’t think it was clear yet what had caused the Superferry to stop service, nor that it portended any problems for the Navy’s purchase. “I’ve heard it’s everything from discomfort caused by the weather to the fact that they’ve had some mechanical glitches, I don’t have the details on it. I do believe in what I’ve seen in LCS 2, a ship that I think a very exciting design for the Navy, and I’m anxious to get it to sea and put it through its paces.”

It seems the Navy is continuing the head-in-the-sand approach to physical reality that our own Dept of Transportation pioneered. They think a ship that can't stand up to civilian ferry service (and had to be escorted by the Coast Guard in case it sank) is good enough for their sailors. Another example of the current administration enriching their pals at the expense of our enlisted men and women.

Maui Superferry EIS Scoping Meeting

The EIS scoping meetings for the Act 2 Superferry...er...highspeed ferry...EIS were sparsely attended. Although Maui, with one-tenth the population of 'Oahu still managed to triple 'Oahu's meager attendence of 12.

Most people opted out of the process and those who did attend almost universally condemned the proceedings as "fake", "bogus", and "lacking in legitimacy". Because the Act 2 process is not subject to judicial review, there is no mechanism for forcing DOT to address Maui's concerns in a verifiable, objective manner.

And as one high ranking DOT appointee told me, "We can't simply tell the Superferry to get out of Kahului Harbor because they would sue the State."

Thus the no action alternative is off the table. That the Superferry will be allowed to dock in Kahului Harbor is a pre-determined outcome.

No wonder few people bothered to show up.

Maui's EIS meetings are set for THIS Monday, March 17
Maui's Baldwin High School Auditorium
Afternoon 2pm to 5pm
OR Evening 6pm to 9pm

It seems like the Superferry might be down for the count...but wait! HSF is still forging ahead on their second ferry which is even now being built in Alabama and to be delivered next year.

So the fake-EIS process called for in Lingle's Superferry Bailout bill continues forward...while Lingle stonewalls on providing requested information in the investigation of this fiasco which the bailout bill called for too.

Lingle is claiming attorney-client privilege in refusing cooperation with the Superferry investigation. So what dirty dealings is she hiding? And if she thinks she'll incriminate herself by cooperating in the investigation, isn't it time we started impeachment procedings?

But au contraire, rumblings are that Lingle might be rewarded for her illegal actions in pushing the Superferry and all its expensive problems onto us, by the GOP VP nomination to McCain. Looks like the conspiracy theorists might have been right...this was all about looting tax dollars to enrich the Bush/Cheney/Rove/Lehman gang in return for her political advancement.

It has come to light that our interisland freight had to wait outside the harbor for hours because of the Superferry (when it was running). Now that it isn't running, that useless hunk o junk barge is parked at Pier 2B, taking up valuable and scarce freight docking space.

Let's ask Garibaldi at the EIS hearing about that - what are they going to do with this very expensive Chinese-made piece of junk that Lingle commissioned in her failed attempt to bypass environmental law? What the heck are we going to do with it now that they're going to spend 1/3 of a billion dollars making the Superferry and cruise ships their own dock?

Speaking of Garibaldi, only 12 people showed up on 'Oahu to the Superferry hearings. Where were the thousands of people that Garibaldi claimed were clamoring for the Superferry? In fact, where were they when it was running? They sure weren't riding it!

And what about Garibaldi's statement that if the Superferry Bailout Bill wasn't passed immediately, he'd be out of business. HSF has been down for far longer than he whined about, so why are they still in business? When a businessman lies to the House and Senate, isn't there any consequence?

And let's hear about the Superferry employees who have been the most used, abused and mistreated pawns in Garibaldi's cynical propaganda machine. Oh sure, he was all crying about their plight when he was trying to get out of complying with environmental law. But do we hear about HSF doing any fundraisers for them now? No, they are ruthlessly laid off while Garibaldi collects his huge salary: money that we taxpayers will be paying back when HSF defaults on their taxpayer-guaranteed MARAD loan.

Come to the EIS scoping meeting and give Garibaldi an earful. Let's call him on all his lies.

For Those Who Doubt Kahului Surfing Predates the Harbor

Famed Big Wave Surfer, Eddie Aikau, who was born on Maui learned to surf in Kahului Bay. Check out his biography, "Eddie Would Go" or online sources.

Meanwhile, Brad Parsons cracked me up with his reference to the Superferry as the "Hunk 'o Junk"

Rumor has it that DOT may be re-thinking their misguided Pier 5 idea - especially since it was so thoroughly dissed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 2020 Master Plan. And also because NCL has removed 2 of their 3 cruise ships from operation. Not to mention the Superferry appears down for the count.

One wonders what Linda Lingle plans on doing with her $40 million Superferry barges that have proved to be unworkable...well...hunks of junk.

Speaking of Lingle. As part of Act 2 that allowed the Superferry to operate without an EIS, there was supposed to be an investigation into Lingle's actions in defying HRS 343. Oddly enough, the report due date has come and gone with ... no report! Why? Because Lingle refuses to cooperate with the investigation. Hmmm.... You can run, Lingle but can you hide?

And on a happy note: The North Shore Renegades paddled out to the Kahului 2 mile buoy this morning in idyllic conditions - calm, glassy water with at least 20 whales with newborns around us. Again and again we had to stop as mom and baby passed in front of us. We thanked Kanaloa for keeping the Superferry in drydock and protecting the 'aumakua. (And marveled at the complete duplicitousness of Garibaldi and his statements that there were no whales on the North Shore)

It is amazing how gentle the kohola are. They know the canoe is fragile and they are careful not to hurt us. Hopefully we'll return the favor and be careful not to hurt them.

Superferry Cancels Yet Again, Again

Superferry has for the 3rd? 4th? time extended their drydock to April 23. Meanwhile, the manufacturer of this sturdy vessel (sarcasm alert) received an engineering award for their terrific job in designing and manufacturing a vessel that has been unable to sail more than half the time it's been scheduled. (This is really true!)

Reporting from the rabbit hole,

Karen Chun

Superferry EIS Would Have Saved Taxpayers Money

With the recent move afoot to gut Hawaii's environmental law (HRS 343) it might be instructive to see how much taxpayer money was squandered on the Superferry because Linda Lingle rammed the project through and tried to cheat the environmental protection law.

From the beginning, SaveKahuluiHarbor has maintained that the purpose of doing an EIS is to help refine the plan so that costly (in terms of dollars and environmental damage) mistakes are avoided.

Oh, how we wish Governor Lingle had listened to us.

But she didn't and here are taxpayer the costs:

$140,000,000 in federal MARAD loan guarantees which are at risk because the Superferry design can't stand up to our rough interisland channels and is in drydock...possibly forever.

$40,000,000 in state funds for the barges.. Lingle ordered the Chinese-made barges in an attempt to circumvent HRS 343 (and this expensive plan to break the law wasn't even successful when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that an EIS was required.)

$10,000,000 to buy land to replace the dockspace taken over by Superferry from interisland freight. (Although we really shouldn't count this because interisland freight was way overdue for more space anyway and hopefully when the plug is pulled on Superferry, they'll get the HSF space back and the newly purchased space also.)

$UNKNOWN to repair repeated damage to the barge in Kahului Harbor from the swell about which SaveKahuluiHarbor and the harbor pilots warned DOT.

$UNKNOWN to repair damage to Kahului Pier 2 from the barge breaking loose and banging it.

$350,000/year to pay for tugs to hold the Superferry and barge against the Kahului harbor because they are so poorly designed and placed.

$100,000 in legal fees payable to Isaac Hall because Lingle ordered DOT not to comply with environmental law and the citizens had to sue to enforce the law.

$UNKNOWN (because they claim it is secret "Homland Security" information) but huge amount of money spent for the Coast guard, police, DLNR, and sheriff department to police a completely lawful protest on Maui and a civil disobedience action on Kaua'i.

$UNKNOWN (because they claim it is secret "Homeland Security" information) cost for ongoing Coastguard escort because of Superferry's precarious structural integrity.

$UNKNOWN cost from reduced efficiency of cargo handling due to the loss of the less than cargo load shed, cramped space and interference in Pier 2 freight operations by the Superferry.

Not to mention the frustration of our truck drivers trying to enter the Young Brothers gate on Wharf street while some clueless Superferry tourists tries to enter the wrong gate and parks, blocking traffic. I've seen this happen every time I've been down there on days HSF runs.

I hope the legislators are reading this. HRS 343 is a good law and should have been applied (and not circumvented via special legislation). If it had been applied, the taxpayers would have been saved many millions of dollars.

And what are we going to do with the Kahului Superferry barge now? That useless piece of junk is languishing at Pier 2B -- a freight pier which we need back in service. Who would want this barge? How can we recoup our money now that it is clearly useless for the Superferry?

Oh how I wish Lingle hadn't broken the law and cost us all this money and trouble!

Meanwhile three groups appealed the decision to lift the Superferry ban on the grounds that Act 2 (the Superferry Bailout Bill) was unconstitutional. Donations have poured in from neighbor islands to support this effort. Big Island, Kaua'i and Maui don't want Lingle to turn their islands into another 'Oahu.