Tuesday, January 22, 2008

HI Superferry: Regarding Draft EIS of Kahului Harbor

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21400600@N03/sets/72157603512682937/

DOT/Belt Collins have come up with some proposed breakwaters for Kahului Harbor that would be inadequate. I have used figures from the applicable USACoE doc to propose better breakwaters. DOT/Belt Collins did not make adequate use of the CGWAVE Model that CHL has a USACoE to test multiple new breakwater senerios. One senerio that I can think of I have drawn in green over figures taken from the two docs.

The third of a billion dollars in expense for these harbor improvements are mostly to the breakwater extensions and to develop the west side of the harbor for the cruise ships and the Superferry. The cruise ships have already taken one of the three ships out of Hawaii recently and will take another one out soon. The cruise ships prefer facilities in West Maui anyway. The Superferry cannot even cover its fuel costs. Neither of them can be expected to be long-term tenants. Whatever harbor improvements are made on the west side of the harbor, esp. at the dollar figures contemplated should be easily adaptable for tenants expected to be long-term...namely cargo. Bond financing should only be used for long-term, necessary improvements as for cargo tenants and facilities.

Again, the EIS of the Superferry would have to be much more esoteric, and yet it is clear that this draft EIS for Kahului Harbor is already dated and not thorough.

Aloha, Brad

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