Sunday, August 24th, marks the one-year anniversary of the Superferry being turned back from Kaua`i. An event entitled, "Jam The Harbor" was scheduled to commemorate the day with a host of activities taking place at Nawiliwili Park. Having heard about the event, the Kaua`i Police and Parks & Recreation Departments moved to proactively impose a set of requirements on the event's coordinator, Rich Hoeppner of People for the Preservation of Kaua`i. Such requirements included adding a number of porta-potties, providing event insurance, developing a parking plan and furnishing a complete map of the park with any tents, stages or temporary structures being mapped out to scale just to name a few.

It was also relayed that the set of requirements were to be met within 24 hours of notification or the event would not be allowed. Such a short turn around time posed an incredible hurdle to holding any "official" event by the group. As a result, PPK is no longer sponsoring the event this weekend. Individuals citizens, however, being void of such restrictions, are getting together to recognize the amazing achievements of the community.

Below is a copy of a press release that was obtained by email, listed here for reference:

--- Begin Email --

ONE YEAR OF NO SUPERFERRY!

WHAT: an informal family picnic get-together at Nawiliwili Park and Kalapaki Beach. Pot luck, bring your music instruments. Bring your surfboards and canoes for a symbolic paddle out at Kalapaki Beach to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Superferry's entrance to Nawiliwili. We will paddle just past the surf zone, but will not enter the harbor. All laws will be observed.

WHERE: Nawiliwili Park. Paddle-out at Kalapaki Beach.

WHEN This Sunday August 24. Informal get together starts at 1 PM. Paddle-out starts at 2 PM.

WHY: One year ago, a thousand people met at the park to give a strong message that our island does not want the Superferry. We will be having family picnics at the park to renew our energy and strength and prepare for any future attempts by the Superferry to return.

--- End Email --

The preceding information is offered an educational material only and this site and its contributors make no endorsement of any action or inaction related to such material.

Hawaii Superferry to get sister ship

Posted: Aug 17, 2008 09:55 PM

Updated: Aug 18, 2008 10:31 AM.

By Howard Dashefsky

MOBILE, AL (KHNL) - The future of sea travel in Hawaii is being built in Mobile, Alabama, by a company based out of Western Australia.

A global leader in construction both commercial and defense vessels, the company named "Austal" is just months away from delivering Hawaii's second Superferry according to company representative Dietrich Giles.

"Most of the structure is complete at this point and a lot of the interior is coming together, what we call joiner work or walls have gone up and were putting coatings down and floor coatings and things like that", said Giles.

The yet to be named vessel will feature a new color scheme, and more spacious common areas designed to be more user friendly for passengers.

But the heart of the 350 foot vessel remains the same. A power train that generates 44 thousand horsepower, thanks to 4 hard charging German engines. But in today's economy, that power comes at a price according to the Alakai's" Chief Engineer.

"On a good day when we run at medium speed we burn about 550 to 6000 gallons of diesel" said Christian Yuhas.

"And on a heavy day when it's rough we have to go fast we burn more, about 8000".

The new vessel will incorporate all the latest safety equipment and technology now found on the Alakai.

It will also add a foldable ramp to assist in the loading, and off-loading of vehicles.

The second ship will allow Superferry to begin offering service to the Big Island by next summer. And despite last summer's rude, and even violent reception in Nawiliwili Harbor, the company remains hopefull it can one day resume service to Kauai.

"I've been over to Kauai and talked to community leaders and business leaders and political leadership" said Superferry President Thomas Fargo.

"We're listening to their concerns, and hopefully we'll be able to move forward".

Here is a recent unpublished letter to the editor by Rich Hoeppner to the Garden Island.

"This is not an E.I.S."

"In response to Mr. Carvalho's letter of 8-11-08, politicians should research what they are writing about before they are published.

Mr. Carvalho, are you aware that the environmental assessment that is being conducted by the State is being done under Governor Lingel's Act II that she pushed through the Legislature?

If you read Act II carefully, you will find that there are "4" parts to the Act. Parts 1, 2, and 4 mostly cover what the "Large Ferry" is free to do in violation of the Hawaii Environmental Protection Act 343. Part 3 covers the environmental assessment, but there is one paragraph that stipulates that this part does not affect anything covered in parts 1, 2, or 4. This makes the environmental assessment conducted under Act II totally irrelevant in it's effect on Kauai.

There are also two Hawaii Supreme Court cases pending, one from Judge Valenciano's Kauai court and one from Judge Cordoza's Maui court. After reading the court briefs on both cases, I am totally convinced that Act II will be found unconstitutional, and the ferry will again be grounded until an independent Environmental Impact Statement is completed, just as Cardoza's Court originally decreed.

Let's all wait and see what our Supreme Court decides."

Richard Hoeppner
Kauai, HI

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/08/15/news/news02.txt

Judge upholds Wainiha construction again

by Blake Jones - The Garden Island

Fifth Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe yesterday affirmed that construction may continue at the Wainiha homesite known to contain at least 30 iwi, or graves, while attorneys for the property owner, state and protesters named in a related lawsuit debate a preliminary injunction.

At the end of the hearing yesterday, which will continue Sept. 3, Watanabe denied a last-minute motion from the protesters’ attorney to temporarily halt building until the next court date.

The judge declined the temporary restraining order request, made by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of two of its Kaua‘i clients, because the foundation for the home in question is already completed and no further disruption to the ground is anticipated. She also put an end to a previously agreed-upon break in construction, in place since Tuesday.

Watanabe reminded the court that she denied an earlier TRO request July 28 for the same reason.

About two dozen concrete pilings are in place at Joseph Brescia’s 18,000-square-foot beachfront property, none of which sit on top of the known iwi, according to the state.

“There’s no risk of additional earth movement,” Watanabe said.

While the judge has appeared unconvinced that further progress on Brescia’s residence as planned will harm the iwi, Watanabe denied an oral motion to dismiss the case from Deputy Attorney General Vince Kanemoto, saying the “contentious” issues at stake are of clear importance to the community and need resolution.

“This court is not about to dismiss the case,” she said. “... The community needs finality and closure.”

Protesters have maintained a steady presence at the property over the last few months, which prompted Brescia’s June 5 lawsuit against protesters Jeff Chandler, Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff, Puanani Rogers, Dayne Gonsalves, Louise Listman and Hale Mawaesued.

Most recently, a group of a dozen or so protesters from around the state occupied the site for eight hours. Anticipating arrest for trespassing, they were prepared to link themselves together via PVC pipe segments and self-releasing lock devices. None were made that day, though police have since announced plans to issue warrants.

Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. attorney Alan Murakami spent the majority of the six-hour hearing questioning his first three witnesses on procedures and processes that led to the Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council’s April decision to preserve the burial sites.

The major issues raised included the state’s classification of the individual iwi as unrelated to one another, whether the State Historic Preservation Division properly noticed the public in soliciting for possible ancestral claims to the land, and the communication between the division and the Burial Council.

The first witness, Dr. Michael Graves, an archeological expert from the University of New Mexico, testified that archaeologists look at the spatial proximity of individual burial sites to determine whether there is a relationship, or perhaps a cemetery. Graves, who was not qualified by the court as an expert on Hawaiian archaeology, was not permitted to comment specifically on the Wainiha burial sites.

Murakami then pressed second witness archaeologist Nancy McMahon, deputy administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division, on her involvement in reviewing the burial treatment plan for the property as well as her assessment that the 30 graves do not constitute a cemetery.

McMahon, who serves as a state liaison of sorts to the Kaua‘i burial council and contractors who prepare burial treatment plans for property owners, testified that the existing cement footings and iwi are separated by horizontal and vertical buffers.

She also said that subsequent fragmented human remains have been inadvertently discovered at the site, and left in place.

Lenneth Lorenzo, a Hawaiian genealogy and title expert, briefly testified on the number of possible claims to the land among Hawaiian families on Kaua‘i before the court was dismissed for the day.

Though the hearing is far from over, about nine Kaua‘i residents opposing construction near the iwi, left Watanabe’s courtroom yesterday disheartened — some in tears.

The group remained for a good 15 minutes, stunned by the turn of events in the 23rd hour of the hearing to allow construction to continue.

“That doesn’t mean this is the end of the desecration because the foundation is paved,” said Rogers, a defendant named in the Brescia lawsuit.

Speaking to her peers, Rogers continued, “All we give is aloha to these guys, and they dig up our graves, they exploit the ‘aina and then they go home to California.”

• Blake Jones, business writer/assistant editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or bjoneskauaipubco.com">bjoneskauaipubco.com

Mahalo to everyone that played a part in making the Eco-Roundtable Mayoral and Council Candidates Forum a success. Over 200 people turned out to hear where the candidates stand on important sustainability issues. With all four mayoral candidates, and 19 of 22 council candidates present, it was an opportune time to compare candidate’s political platforms and stances on issues. The standing-room only turnout and excitement in the audience was evidence that the general public is highly interested and engaged in this year’s election.

A questionnaire was given to candidates at the end of the night and post-mailed to candidates that were not present. The questionnaire includes all questions asked at the live forum, as well as several others that could not be incorporated due to time restraints. This will provide an opportunity for candidates to clarify their responses and provide more detail. We have asked for all written responses to be returned by September 1st, and will have them online shortly afterwards at MalamaKauai.Org and EcoRountable.Org. A copy of the questionnaire is available now at either of these sites.

A series of ten “support”/ “do not support”/ “no answer” questions were interspersed throughout the evening. Candidates unanimously agreed to support curbside recycling and a 7-day per week bus service with extended hours and doubled frequency during peak commuter times. Besides one or two candidates, there was also large majority support for mandating solar water heaters on all new residential construction, reducing density on lands zoned open, banning pesticides at county parks and along county roadways, and banning plastic shopping bags. Very few candidates supported construction of a hotly debated Waste-to-Energy incinerator. Interestingly, all candidates said they did not support the return of the Superferry without a full independent Environmental Impact Statement, but a few candidates retracted their answer when they were made aware that the Act 2 assessment being conducted is not a legitimate EIS. Candidate’s answers to all questions were recorded and posted on a large wall chart. This chart can by found online at MalamaKauai.Org and EcoRoundtable.Org.

A straw poll was conducted at the end of the night. Each audience member was allowed to confidentially vote for one mayoral candidate and seven council candidates. The results are as follows:

Mayoral
Yukimura-79
Carvalho-46
Rapozo-22
Beiber-5

Council:
Bynum-93
Kawahara-91
Furfaro-74
Kawakami-65
Kuali`i-64
Pleas-60
Thronas-56
Mijares-50
Kouchi-46
Kealoha-41
Asing-38
Taylor-34
Libre-34
Pasadava-28
Bartolo-22
Chang-21
Kaneakua-14
Kaneshiro-13 (NOT PRESENT)
Hoff-9
Agor-7 (NOT PRESENT)
Cariffe-4
McMahon-0 (NOT PRESENT)

The results of this straw poll are not an endorsement from the Eco-Roundtable.

If you were not able to attend the live forum, tune into KKCR public radio station for the re-broadcast. Video coverage from the night’s events will be available for viewing on Ho`ike public television and EcoRoundtable.Org by August 13th.

The mayoral candidates will be hosted on the Malama Kaua`i Radio Show this Friday from 12-1 on KKCR, 91.9. This will be a chance to get deeper into some of the issues that came up last night. We will also open-up the phone lines to callers.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, do not hesitate to contact andreamalamakauai.org">andreamalamakauai.org.

With twenty-two people running for seven county council seats and the position of mayor open, it is critical that the community knows where candidates stand on the important issues that affect all of us: the economy, land use, development, energy, transportation, waste, affordable housing, and the environment.

Hear from mayoral and council candidates on Tuesday, August 5th at the Eco-Roundtable Mayoral and Council Candidates Forum at the Convention Hall in Lihu`e. The public will have a chance to meet-and-greet with candidates from 5:30-6 PM and a facilitated question-answer forum will begin promptly at 6 PM.

All mayoral and a majority of council candidates have confirmed their participation in this event.

The forum is being hosted by the Eco-Roundtable, a network of over 50 sustainability-oriented organizations. Sustainability encompasses economic self-sufficiency and diversification, environmental health, social wellbeing, and perpetuation of culture. Questions have been formulated by representatives from organizations participating in the Eco-Roundtable, as well as by representatives from the agricultural, business, and Native Hawaiian communities.

The candidates’ forum is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary but non-perishable food items for the Kaua`i Food Bank will gratefully be accepted at the door.

The forum will be recorded and re-broadcasted on KKCR and Ho`ike public televisions until the elections. Candidates written responses to questions will be made available following the forum at EcoRoundtable.Org..

For more information about the candidates’ forum please email andreamalamakauai.org">andreamalamakauai.org or call 828-0685.

Published on Monday, July 28, 2008 by the Victoria Times Colonist (Canada)
A Model for Real Community Energy Self-Sufficiency
by David Chernushenko

The recent G8 Summit achieved one important result. It showed that too many of our leaders still think energy “security” can be achieved by calling for an increase in the rate of oil extraction at the expense of human and ecosystem health.

They are looking for security in the wrong places. For a real lesson in energy security, and a glimpse of the healthy local economy of the future, they could start with a small town in Germany, just one of many in northern Europe that are charting a course toward true energy autonomy, based on renewable sources of energy.

The town of Freiamt generates its entire electricity needs from locally owned renewable sources, and then sells a 30 per cent surplus to generate revenue.

Freiamt is a cluster of villages of 4,300 people in the Black Forest. Its economy is dominated by farming, tourism and small-scale forestry. For the burghers of Freiamt, questions of “the environment” come down to how to ensure that the soil, forests, water, air and natural beauty of the region are preserved and yet still harnessed to maximize economic and social benefit.

The same converging forces threatening towns and cities globally (shrinking natural resources, peaking supplies of oil and uranium, climate change and tightening competition for all of these as a result of population growth), make Freiamt as potentially vulnerable as any other community. But vulnerable is not in the vocabulary of the people of Freiamt.

For the last five years, Freiamt has been pursuing the goal of total energy self-sufficiency. While the strategy is still young, it is clearly working, in a way that defies conventional beliefs, not just in Canada and the rest of the G8, but in parts of Germany as well. At least those parts that still believe that energy security lies in big generation stations, big energy companies and big investment.

Proving that “small is beautiful,” Freiamt generates so much power from its small-scale renewable sources that it is turning an annual profit. It did so by adding four wind turbines and 800 rooftop photovoltaic systems to its existing small-scale hydro and biomass installations. Freiamt now generates 13 million kilowatt hours of power. Since it only consumes 10 million locally, the surplus three million are sold to other parts of Germany via the national grid, generating income for residents and businesses.

The Freiamt story is as much about “power” as energy. Although much of the technical expertise and all of the equipment comes from outside Freiamt, the citizens were adamant that they wanted to own their future, by owning and controlling the turbines and the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal installations. The wind turbines are jointly owned, as are many of the solar panel arrays on buildings such as the soccer clubhouse. Other PV systems are privately owned and installed on homes, barns and garages.

Biogas digesters have been built on several farm properties in a joint “co-op” arrangement whereby a group of citizens invests together, spreads the risk and shares the revenue. In addition to earning a significant return for the investors, these biogas systems have provided a holistic solution to the problems of farm waste that can pollute rural water supplies and emit greenhouse gasses such as methane.

Several factors are critical to the success of the Freiamt project. First is citizen support. The buy-in of individuals was achieved when they became convinced that neither the wind turbines nor the large solar arrays would cause significant visual or noise pollution and that the potential financial return would be a safe investment, with the money being retained locally.

Underpinning the financial case is a federal law that triggered an explosion of renewable energy investment in Germany. The so-called “feed-in tariff” guarantees that renewable energy suppliers receive a premium rate from energy companies for the electricity they feed into the national grid. This guarantee provides the certainty individuals and banks need to invest in renewables.

As a result, tens of thousands of Germans and dozens of towns, co-ops and companies have installed renewable energy systems.

Freiamt is not alone. Other towns like Dardesheim, Halberstadt and Mauenheim are producing all or much of their energy needs, and many more are known to be developing similar plans.

Freiamt has built a low-carbon economy, and is moving steadily closer to being a no-carbon community. If things get rough out there beyond the Black Forest, it is capable of functioning and thriving without the continual intravenous feeding that other places require from the power grid, natural gas pipeline or supertanker.

As long as the sun shines, the wind blows and the grass grows, Freiamt will be making energy and selling it at a profit. That is resilience.

Freiamt offers us a glimpse of what a thriving economy built on a healthy environment can look like. A glimpse of what any town or province in Canada could accomplish, in its own way and on its own terms. A glimpse of real energy security.

David Chernushenko is an Ottawa-based writer and filmmaker specializing in sustainability issues. He produced the film Be the Change (www.livinglightly.ca/film).

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008

To read the full report by the National Resource Defense Council, Click here. If you are interested in volunteering to help collect water samples from surf breaks, contact cbergpixi.com

Kaua‘i beach among most polluted
by Rachel Gehrlein - THE GARDEN ISLAND
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/07/29/news/news01.txt

In a beach water quality report to be released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Hanama‘ulu Beach County Park tied for 10th place with two Mainland beaches in a list of polluted beaches in the nation that exceed national standards.

“Hanama‘ulu Beach exceeded the national standard by 55 percent,” Kaua‘i biologist Dr. Carl Berg said. “It was found polluted 55 percent of the time it was tested in 2007.”
*

In the same report, Hawai‘i was ranked 25th in the nation in samples that exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards in 2007. Kaua‘i had the highest exceedance in 2007 with 21 percent, followed by Honolulu with 10 percent, the Big Island with 9 percent and Maui with 5 percent. Hanama‘ulu Beach and Po‘ipu Beach ranked first and second with 82 percent and 47 percent, respectively, in exceeded state standards.

Samples taken from Hanama‘ulu Beach by state Department of Health officials were tested for enterococcus bacteria. Enterococcus is a bacteria found in the human intestine and a good bacterial indicator for determining human waste in recreational swimming waters.

If sample results exceed 104 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters of beach water sampled, an advisory warning would be issued for the sampling site.

According to the report, Hawai‘i’s enterococcus standards are stricter than federal standards.

In the NRDC report, water at American beaches last year was unsafe for swimming with the second-highest number of beach closing and advisory days ever.

“Some families can’t enjoy their local beaches because they are polluted and kids are getting sick — largely because of human and animal waste in the water,” Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s clean water project, said in a statement. “What this report means for families heading to the beach is they need to be careful and do a little homework.”

The 18th annual beach water quality report used data from the Environmental Protection Agency report, “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches.” The EPA report shows the number of closing and advisory days at American beaches was more than 20,000 for the third consecutive year.

According to the report, the biggest drop in closing and advisory days due to abnormal rainfall in 2006 was in Hawai‘i, with a 36 percent reduction.

Though the numbers of beach closures and advisory days due to sewage spills and overflows more than tripled from 2006 to 2007, the largest known source of beach pollution continues to be contamination from stormwater.

In the report, stormwater caused more than 10,000 closing and advisory days; unknown sources of pollution resulted in more than 8,000 closing and advisory days.

Stormwater, an abnormal amount of surface water due to a heavy rainstorm, can carry pollution from the streets to the beach without treatment any time it rains.

“Some of these beach exceedances (on Kaua‘i) could have been caused by stormwater,” Berg said. “But it doesn’t rain that much near the airport (by Hanama‘ulu) or Po‘ipu. We deserve to know what that (the cause of the exceedance) is. We as a community deserve to know the source of that pollution.”

Berg said the DOH monitors the water near the beaches, while Surfrider Foundation volunteers sample water at surfing sites around the island.

“What Surfrider does is the exact same thing the DOH does,” Berg said. “The data is comparable.”

The DOH supports Surfrider taking samples, Berg added.

“Monitoring the water isn’t the goal,” Berg said. “The purpose of monitoring is to identify problems. We have a monitoring program because our goal is clean water.”

According to the NRDC, Beach Protection Act bills are pending in Congress that would provide for more money for beach water sampling. The bills would also require faster testing methods so the public could get timely information on whether it is safe to swim.

• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrleinkauaipubco.com">rgehrleinkauaipubco.com