Senators told ship could hurt humpbacks

The Maui News
Thursday, February 08, 2007

HONOLULU - A state Senate joint committee was warned Wednesday of the likelihood that the Hawaii Superferry would strike and injure humpback whales during normal operations between the islands.

"One of the big things to come up today was the possibility of the Superferry hitting a whale," said Sen. J. Kalani English, chairman of one of the committees hearing a bill to require that an environmental impact statement be prepared before the interisland ferry service can begin operations.

An expert witness brought in by the Pacific Whale Foundation provided data on what the effects of the ferry operations could be, said Sen. Shan Tsutsui, whose Central Maui district includes Kahului Harbor.

"What he said was that at 35 knots, which is what the Superferry plans to run on the open ocean, it would have 2.9 seconds to stop once a whale is spotted in its path," he said.

English's Transportation and International Affairs Committee, and the Energy and Environment Committee chaired by Oahu Sen. Ron Menor, recessed the joint meeting on Senate Bill 1276 to continue the sessions on Kauai and Maui on Saturday, the senators said.

Sen. Gary Hooser of Kauai said he believes there is strong support in the Senate for the bill that would bar the Superferry from operating until an environmental impact statement on the ferry operations is accepted.

"There is support, and it's important that we hold these hearings on the Neighbor Islands for the committee to have an opportunity, and for members who live in Honolulu, to be able to talk face-to-face to the people who live in our districts," he said.

The joint committee will convene at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Kauai County Council Chambers and at 5 p.m. in the Baldwin High School multipurpose room.

It will be the first time in this session that Senate committees have gone into the community to hear from the public, English noted.

"There is still a lot of concern. We had people flying in from all the Neighbor Islands, the Big Island, Kauai and Maui," he said.