MauiLifeStyleBlog

The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 9:59 a.m., Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Court hearing on Superferry service to Maui postponed

A hearing on whether to keep in place the ban on Hawaii Superferry service to Maui until the state conducts an environmental assessment has been postponed until next week.

The hearing, which was initially scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in Maui Circuit Court, is now set for 9 a.m. Monday.

The hearing before Judge Joseph Cardoza is expected to decide whether a preliminary and/or permanent injunction will be issued to keep the ban on Hawaii Superferry service to Maui in place until the state Department of Transportation conducts an environmental assessment on the Kahului Harbor projects.

In a court case brought by Maui Tomorrow, the Sierra Club and the Kahului Harbor Coalition, the state Supreme Court ruled Aug. 23 that the state was wrong to exempt publicly funded ferry-related projects at the Kahului Harbor from the state's environmental protection law.

The Maui projects, which include a barge, ramps, fencing and utilities, are part of $40 million in state-funded, ferry-related construction at Kahului, Nawiliwili, Honolulu and Kawaihae harbors.

Following the ruling, Cardoza last month granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order banning the state from allowing the ferry to use Kahului Harbor.

At an Aug. 29 hearing, Cardoza rejected a motion by Hawaii Superferry and the DOT to dissolve the temporary order.

© COPYRIGHT 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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