Kauai judge delays decision on Superferry TRO

A Kauai judge will rule tomorrow on a request to keep the Hawaii Superferry away from the Garden Island for at least 10 days.
Lihue Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano gave all parties involved until 11 a.m. tomorrow to file written arguments and indicated he would rule on the matter tomorrow afternoon.
Valenciano asked the environmental group 1000 Friends of Kauai why it didn’t file its request within 120 days of the state’s decision that an environmental assessment was not necessary. The state made that determination in February 2005.
“Right now the court is still struggling with the 120-day period,” Valenciano said.
“This is a big issue, this could control the case,” he said.
Valenciano pointed out that a similar request filed in Maui Circuit Court by the Sierra Club and others was done within the 120-day period.
The group 1000 Friends of Kauai asked Valenciano to block the Superferry from docking at Nawiliwili for at least 10 days as the court considers its motion for a preliminary injunction that would indefinitely halt the ship’s Kauai service. The organization wants the Kauai service suspended until the state Department of Transportation has completed an environmental assessment, which was ordered by the Hawaii Supreme Court on Aug. 23.
The environmental assessment, according to state officials, could take up to eight months.
On Monday, Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza is scheduled to hear a separate motion for a preliminary injunction to keep the Superferry from running from Oahu to Kahului until an environmental assessment on harbor improvements is completed. Cardoza has already issued a temporary restraining order halting Maui service until the preliminary injunction motion is decided.
After the state Supreme Court’s ruling, the Hawaii Superferry rushed into service on Aug. 26. But Cardoza shut down Maui service two days later by granting a TRO for that island. Protesters at Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai, meanwhile, turned back the service on its second day, resulting in the temporary suspension because of security and safety concerns.
The 1000 Friends motion for a TRO alleged that “immediate injury, loss, or damage will result” if the Superferry returns to the Garden Isle. The Superferry’s impact on traffic, marine life, crime, the environment and the culture has never been studied or subject to public scrutiny, the group’s motions also stated.
Without that study, all operating agreements with the Superferry should be voided and any further Superferry trips should be considered a nuisance, the 1000 Friends say.
Superferry attorneys say there is no evidence that the vessel will harm the environment, while state attorneys say an assessment can be done while the ferry operates.
Meanwhile, Hawaii Superferry will make a special round-trip voyage between Oahu and Maui this weekend so passengers can reclaim vehicles stranded after the ferry had to suspend service.
A Circuit Court judge ordered the company to stop service while he decides whether the company may operate the ferry at the same time it conducts an environmental assessment.
The move stranded many people and their cars on Oahu and Maui.
But the judge said he would allow the company to make one round-trip voyage so passengers could get their cars back home.
The ferry will leave Honolulu at 11 a.m. Saturday and arrive at Kahului three hours later. It will leave Maui at 3 p.m.