Winding down...Questions about the EIS

Not much to post here anymore. I still have the "webbots" going on this, but even they don't send back much info to me anymore. But, received an interesting letter to the editor cc'd to me recently. Here was my reply to that letter below:

Sally,

Good to hear from you again. About the EIS. As far as I know DOT put it on temporary hold after the Supreme Court decision, but that was before the bankruptcy. As far as I know DOT has not publicly said anything about the EIS since the bankruptcy proceedings began. The situation may have changed given those recent bankruptcy proceedings and as to the "need" for an interisland ferry and relative to the state budget problems.

As for your last question, "And what has happened to John Lehman, former chairman of the Superferry, and his investment firm? Did the Superferry bankruptcy cost him any money personally? Or were the only losers small investors, vendors, and the Superferry employees?":

JFL and Co is still in business. Their lawyer recently said in bankruptcy court after the abandoning of the vessels was allowed that JFL and Co lost all of their $85 million invested in HSF. All of the common stockholders and preferred stockholders are expected to lose any money they invested or expected value accrued in it. It still remains in question who buys or leases the two vessels and for how much. These vessels may be sold at loan value which would be a discount. A previous loser in this could actually end up making money if they acquire the vessels at discount and use them in the right situation. The right situation calls for either military use or one-way commercial routes of 70 miles or less between significant population/commercial centers.

Brad

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	What is the status of the Superferry EIS?
Date:	Mon, 06 Jul 2009
From:	Sally Raisbeck
To:	Maui News (letters@mauinews.com)

What is the status of the Superferry EIS?

The DOT prepared a draft EIS for the Superferry that was released in January. Has that been completed? The title was for a "statewide large capacity ferry". This was meant to continue the fiction that Act 2 exempting the Superferry from environmental review was passed by the legislature as a general law, not a particular law to benefit the Superferry. So I presume that the state would complete the EIS, to continue the fiction. Has it been completed?

I would like to know if they dropped it when the Superferry went out of business. I would also like to know how much the state spent on the EIS, besides the $40 million on harbor improvements.

I am so glad they didn't go ahead with state plans to build a ferry terminal for the Superferry on the Kahului Harbor breakwater. That plan would really have been expensive. Probably the plans were expensive.

The company that built the Superferry got the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) contract for 10 military versions of the Superferry last November. Does the Maui News know? The company was Austal Ltd. And what has happened to John Lehman, former chairman of the Superferry, and his investment firm? Did the Superferry bankruptcy cost him any money personally? Or were the only losers small investors, vendors, and the Superferry employees?

Surely someone on Maui knows some of these interesting economic facts.

Sally Raisbeck
Wailuku HI