State harbors chief grilled by judge over Kahului plans

The Maui News
Friday, December 08, 2006
By Harry Eagar, Staff Writer

WAILUKU - Kahului Harbor is always a work in progress, but the tempo has picked up in recent years, so much so that successive master plans are treading on each other's toes.

On Thursday, 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August tried to find out where one plan left off and another began.

The question before the court is whether three citizen groups and Maui County have a legitimate claim in a lawsuit seeking to require the state Department of Transportation to prepare a full environmental impact statement on the environmental effects of harbor expansion - including improvements for the Hawaii Superferry.

Three months ago, August ruled they did not have standing to sue. The complainants filed a motion to reconsider.

In the meantime, August said he saw a newspaper story that included information that the court had not been given; for example, about new accesses from the harbor to Kaahumanu Avenue.

That might go to the question of whether the would-be plaintiffs have a proximate issue - namely, increased traffic - that would create an interest and standing to file the complaint over environmental impacts.

In October, August said he wanted to quiz Barry Fukunaga, the deputy director of transportation for harbors, about state planning. The question was, is the division segmenting a big project into a lot of little ones, in order to get the little ones through environmental review more easily.

That question didn't get answered Thursday, as the judge questioned Fukunaga directly.

August said he understands the state is trying to improve the harbor to benefit the island, but he was concerned that the 2030 master plan seemed to follow so closely on the 2025 master plan.

Although the 2030 plan still is being written, the draft environmental impact statement is expected to be ready by mid-2007.

Shortly after a Finding of No Significant Impact was issued on the 2025 plan, there was a second legal finding for the division's purchase of the Old Kahului Store and Old Kahului Railroad Station lots for expansion. And now, August said, there is a 2030 plan looming.

"All this is occurring within a period of 48 months," he said, giving the appearance the three environmental statements are part of "some larger cohesive scheme."

That's correct, said Fukunaga. But the collapsed time frame came about through unexpected circumstances. He explained that when the 2025 plan was written, in 2000, it was based on activity projections that were too low.

Maui's and Hawaii's booming economies are straining several harbors. A Hawaii Harbor Users Group was formed in 2001 and commissioned a study that identified harbors under particular strain - Honolulu, Barbers Point and Kahului.

Young Brothers reported that its cargo volume increased 65 percent, Fukunaga said.

The division had planned its next master plan for the island of Hawaii, said Fukunaga, but as a result of the analysis of the situation at Kahului, he decided "to focus on Maui."

That is why the two master plans seem so close, he said.

After August finished his questioning, Fukunaga was sworn in as a witness and began answering questions from his lawyer, Deputy Attorney General William Wynhoff. They did not get very far before the court adjourned until 1:30 p.m. Monday.