What is it about the $100 million state-of-the-art high speed inter-island Superferry that these protesters find so frightening that they say they will “lay down their lives” to keep it off their island? Dozens of protesters waited hours for a chance at the microphone to give their long list of gripes.

Some said the Hawaii Superferry should be out of business altogether because it will kill turtles, dolphins and whales. They refused to acknowledge that although the 4-story high speed ferry travels at 40 knots, the company employs “whale spotters,” is equipped with sonar to detect sea life from a far distance, and has the ability to stop or turn the ferry much more quickly than other sea vessels.

The protesters also claimed there is a conspiracy by the U.S. Military and Superferry officials to transport military equipment and personnel between the islands.

Former Kauai Mayor Joanne Yukimura, now a Kauai council member, incited the audience by making unfounded accusations against the governor, Superferry operators and the military about this supposed military conspiracy and demanding the ferry be stopped until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed.

Several of the protesters were more fearful of the people from Oahu than of the Superferry itself. They said Oahu residents will bring traffic, trash, illegal drugs, pollution and crime. They claimed people from Oahu are criminals who will break into their island homes, steal their belongings and then leave on the Superferry; Oahu residents are also drug traffickers and in addition to flooding their island with illegal drugs, will increase their murder rate, Kauai protesters said. Several of them added that visitors from Oahu who come via the Superferry (as opposed to air travel) will pollute their “aina” and ocean; steal their fish, their limu (seaweed), their opihi (shell fish) and their Maile leis; leave their trash behind, and take over their beaches and surf spots.

Other people were not at the hearing to complain so much about the Hawaii Superferry as about their lives in general. One Vietnam vet said he was upset about the way he’d been treated when returning from Vietnam after the war; another talked about his dismal life, blaming outsiders and the government; yet still others complained about the government and its management of the island’s infrastructure and resources. Several cheered when one man demanded solar panels on all their government buildings. They all ended their diatribes with hate speech against the ferry, much to the delight of the majority of the audience.

One testifier claimed the media is unfairly categorizing the Kauai protesters as “ignorant, unemployed lowlifes,” (to which a few people in the audience rebutted that Kauai protesters are unfairly categorizing Oahu residents as drug mules, thieves and slobs).

Though about one-fourth of the 1,100 plus people in attendance were in favor of the Hawaii Superferry, they mostly remained silent, intimidated by the aggressive mob mentality.

One handicapped woman testified in favor of the Hawaii Superferry, saying it is normally difficult to travel, but the Superferry gives her mobility. She was teary eyed during her brief talk, but protesters made fun of her for it.

From the beginning of Thursday’s 6 p.m. meeting, which went nearly 4 hours, it was evident that the vast majority of the protesters weren’t there to listen or learn. The atmosphere was tense, dark and at some times, felt as if it would turn violent.

Gov. Lingle listens to protesters against the Hawaii Superferry

While some of the disrupters were Hawaiian sovereignty activists, the majority looked as though they’d stepped right out of a 1960s anti-Vietnam War march. Unified against the government officials and the Hawaii Superferry and anyone who supported it, they booed and hissed, made threats against the governor and verbally attacked her for being Jewish and told her to “read the Torah.” They shouted “liar, liar, liar!” throughout her responses and accused her of being “on the take” for accepting a political contribution from the Hawaii Superferry during her 2006 run for governor. They also carried signs disparaging the governor and the Hawaii Superferry, saying “Sink the Ship,” “Shame on You Cha-lingle,” “EIS is Pono,” and “Lingle’s Super Scandal.” Numerous people who had a turn at the microphone demanded "respect" from the government and Superferry officials, but they showed none themselves.

The governor, to her credit, remained calm. She and the state’s first deputy attorney general Lisa Ginoza, over the shouting, chanting and boos, rationally explained the legal reasons why the state has no right to bar the Hawaii Superferry from operating between Kauai and Oahu.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Ginoza

The protesters seemed to have no idea that the Department of Transportation, the state Legislature, the governor and Maui’s lower court all gave the Hawaii Superferry the go-ahead without mandating an Environmental Assessment before the Hawaii Supreme Court shot them all down and said one should be required for Maui only. They also didn’t care.

Despite the predictably heated encounter, the governor called the September 20th meeting on Kauai to explain why the local, state and federal government cannot -- and will not -- prevent the Hawaii Superferry from resuming operations between Oahu and Kauai in the next few weeks. She put the protesters on notice that there will be severe consequences for those who interfere in the ferry’s operations to Kauai.

The warning came after the ferry’s operations were interrupted in late August by protesters, some with children in tow, who paddled surfboards and canoes in front of the ferry as it tried to enter the harbor. The first and only time the ferry docked, Oahu families driving their cars off the ferry were targeted by protesters who flattened their tires and banged on their cars. The second night the ferry came to Kauai, protesters prevented the ferry from docking altogether.

After two days of chaos in Nawiliwili Harbor, the governor and U.S. Coast Guard asked the Superferry to hold off traveling to Kauai until the government agencies could “unify” their command and develop a plan that would ensure the ferry could operate safely and that no one was hurt.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O’Hara

Gov. Lingle said later that she was “shocked” by the way protesters disrespected not only the government officials who came to speak to them, but also their fellow island residents who were in favor of the Hawaii Superferry. She said she’d never seen anything like it in her 30 years of being in public office.

She gave the go-ahead as of Sept. 26, but Superferry operators say they will delay the ferry a bit longer to Kauai.

Ultimately, Superferry supporters and opponents are awaiting an unrelated court ruling on Maui that will determine whether the Superferry can transport passengers between Oahu and Maui while an Environmental Assessment (recently mandated by the Hawaii Supreme Court) is completed.

Last week, a Kauai judge refused to grant an environmental group a Temporary Restraining Order against the Superferry to keep it from operating, saying the legal protest period had long expired. The environmental group can resubmit its complaint under the state’s nuisance law.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of the people in the state, around 85 percent who said in a poll that they support the ferry, are stunned by the protesters’ threats and anger over a boat that was supposed to bring island families together, help local clubs transport their canoes and cars quickly, enable disabled people to travel more easily, allow farmers to distribute their fresh produce in a less costly and more timely manner, and open up Oahu markets to neighbor island-based small businesses.

The state continues to get negative coverage around the world in The Economist, The New York Times, CNN News and Fox News, just to name a few.

No matter the slant from which the issue is covered, economists say this conflict sends a negative message to the world that Hawaii’s business climate is unstable.

They warn that this is the economic “tipping point” for the state and if the ferry goes, so goes Hawaii’s economy.

In addition to the negative press and potential economic disaster, if the Hawaii Superferry fails here, taxpayers will be left covering $40 million in state bonds used to repair the harbors for the Superferry's use - money the Hawaii Superferry is supposed to repay.

Photo by NOAA - Marine debris being lifted from the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument

Ironically, there was yet another twist in this long running Superferry saga today -- one the “environmentalists” won’t like.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Kukui, which was supposed to set sail for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands this week to pick up thousands of tons of ocean debris, has postponed its trip indefinitely because it may be called in the next few weeks to protect the Superferry passengers from the protesters.

Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com

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