TRUTH COMES OUT - SUPERFERRY CHEATS BY FORCING ENVIRONMENTAL EXEMPTION
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hawai`i's government caved in to pressure from the Hawai`i Superferry, allowing it to bypass an environmental review by the state, according to an audit to be released today.
The report finds that the Department of Transportation exempted the Superferry from an environmental study after the interisland ship threatened not to come to Hawai`i unless it was given the go-ahead by June 30, 2005.
"In the end, the state may have compromised its environmental policy in favor of a private company's internal deadline," according to the audit, ordered by the Legislature and prepared by Auditor Marion Higa.
The Transportation Department's exemption set in motion a series of events including ocean protests off Kaua`i, court rulings that stopped the ferry and emergency legislation overriding the courts.
Since then the Superferry has been carrying small loads of passengers and cars from Honolulu to Maui when it has not needed repairs, as it did from Feb. 13 to April 7. The ferry still has not resumed voyages to Kaua`i.
Read More Here
