Niumalu residents thank Senator Gary Hooser for taking on the job of protecting their health by submitting SB2526. A job that should/could have been avoided if:

1. The Department of Transportation had done/would do its job in the 2005 Nawiliwili Harbor EA: The EA completely failed, did not comply with applicable regulations, and drew an unsupportable conclusion of “Finding Of No Significant Impact” (FONSI). It did so by not considering secondary impacts by the cruise ships contrary to applicable regulations:

(§11-200-12 Significance Criteria
A. In considering the significance of potential environmental effects, agencies shall consider the sum of effects on the quality of the environment, and shall evaluate the overall and cumulative effects of an action.
B. In determining whether an action may have a significant effect on the environment, the agency shall consider every phase of a proposed action, the expected consequences, both primary and secondary, and the cumulative as well as the short-term and long-term effects of the action. In most instances, an action shall be determined to have a significant effect on the environment if it: …….)

Even though the EA cited a NCL study predicting a substantial increase in traffic by 2007, the EA opted to treat the situation as “no change” and, therefore, no impact from the increased cruise ship traffic was assessed. The EA was thus improperly conducted and must, at minimum, be amended to consider the cruise ship impacts. After all, the project and the EA were undertaken to specifically deal with an increase in cruise ship traffic. This was indicated in the EA by the consultant who had conducted the air quality portion of the study. (“Should conditions substantially change, another assessment may be justified.”) A proper emissions inventory with subsequent dispersion modeling would be an integral part of an amended EA.

OR

2. The Department of Health would do its job:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Amendment and Compilation of Chapter 11-60.1
Hawaii Administrative Rules
SEP 16 2003
§11-60.1-1
("Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor air of substances in quantities and for durations which may endanger human health or welfare, plant or animal life, or property or which may unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property throughout the State and in such areas of the State as are affected thereby, but excludes all aspects of employer-employee relationships as to health and safety.) (HAR, DOH Chapter 11-60.1-1 Definitions)

The same regulations in Chapter 11-60.1-2, Prohibition of Air Pollution, place restrictions on causing air pollution:

(No person, including any public body, shall engage in any activity, which causes air pollution or causes or allows the emission of any regulated or hazardous air
pollutant without first securing approval in writing from the director.)

OR

3. NCL would do their job/the right thing: Like Maersk Shipping lines who has proactively switched to cleaner fuel in preparation of coming legislation and response to a worldwide trend of requiring cleaner fuels: They reported that the switch has gone smoothly; between April 2006 and May 2007, 78 vessels conducted 298 fuel switches from bunker fuel to cleaner marine distillates in main engines at or before 24 nautical miles from coast.
Also, Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines (the car carrier): “is pleased to announce the completion of major retrofitting of the company flagship Jean Anne in response to new environmental regulations in California requiring the burning of low sulfur fuel within 24 miles of the coast and alongside. Marine diesel oil is a lighter and cleaner fuel, and will support the Jean Anne's propulsion system via two hundred meters of new piping. The retrofitting was accomplished with no downtime or impact to the vessel's sailing schedule between California and Hawaii”. Additional environmentally-friendly upgrades to the Jean Anne's engine include the installation of slide valves in each of the cylinders of the main engine, which will result in cleaner combustion and reduced emissions at all times - a benefit to Hawaii as the vessel travels between islands. The slide valves also contribute to the efficiency of the engine and lengthen the time between required servicing. "We are keenly aware of our responsibility to protect the environment," said George Pasha, III, "and are pleased to be able to invest in environmentally friendly technology."

When cruise ships are docked in our harbor, it’s like having a power generation plant larger than Lihue’s Kapaia station (27.5 Megawatt capacity) parked right upwind. The only difference is that cruise ships (40 Megawatts capacity) burn a much less refined Bunker Fuel instead of the much cleaner Naphtha Fuel used in our power plant. Breathing the toxic smoke from this type of fuel has been linked to increased asthma and cancer in addition to other major health problems see: http://www.bluewaternetwork.org/ for more details.

In conclusion, local healthcare insurance is picking up the tab on residents medical visits (during my recent one, the MRI alone was almost $2000) - always diagnosed as "Non-specific respiratory irritation". Meanwhile, NCL sends the profits back to Florida (if not Norway). The other foreign cruise lines also send their profits home - out of the U.S. This isn't even a good "big-business" deal for us!

If you would like to help support SB 2526 please contact me at: ocrafthotmail.com">ocrafthotmail.com

Gary Craft, Niumalu residend