by Juan Wilson
Kauai's Newspaper, The Garden Island
Monday, Oct 16, 2006

Note from webmaster: This was written in response to an article in which Haraga makes the outrageous statement that "no taxpayer funds were used for the Superferry" because general obligation bonds were used which will be paid back by SuperFerry dock fees! The statement is not only self-contradictory but also ignores the fact that the Superferry displaces freight which is already paying the use fees and that we taxpayers will be stuck with the bill when the Superferry goes bankrupt.

Rodney Haraga, Director of Hawaii Department of Transportation, wrote an opinion piece Friday on the Forum page in The Garden Island.

It was entitled “Superferry has run the gantlet.”

He argues there is no need for an Environmental Impact Statement or for that matter, an Oceanic Environmental Impact Statement, before beginning operation of the Superferry.

What Haraga failed to mention anywhere in his article were the words “Military,” “Navy,” “Stryker,” or “Westpac Express.” When the military dimensions of the Superferry operation come into focus there is good reason for both an EIS and OEIS.

Some background: This month a Federal court in San Francisco has found the Army violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it did not consider all alternatives in its decision to install the Stryker brigade in the Hawaiian Islands. The court ordered the Army to prepare a supplemental environmental analysis to answer the question, “Why Hawaii?”

The Stryker is an eight-wheeled assault platform that can carry a 105mm cannon or the 25mm Bushmaster machine gun. Both can fire Depleted Uranium rounds. So can the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, the Apache Attack Helicopter and the Cobra Gunship Helicopter. The Superferry is designed to carry them all.

DU, in a projectile does two things. It delivers a huge kinetic impact of white hot uranium to a target. This destroys the target. It also conveniently gets rid of a wad of “low level” radioactive waste from an atomic power plant or weapons program; they have no place to put the stuff. As such, DU munitions have an ongoing environmental impact.

Why worry about Depleted Uranium? Just ask any Gulf War Veteran. The contamination of the modern battlefield with radioactive depleted uranium 238 is an intractable problem with a 4.5 billion year half-life. Dating back to 1991, tens-of-thousands of United States veterans claim they have been permanently disabled by widespread use of these toxic munitions in Iraq.

The military denies that it has used DU munitions in Hawaii, but DU weapons debris has been discovered at Schofield Barracks and documented by the Associated Press. Will these weapons ever be fired on other islands?

The Superferry is not just a means for O‘ahu residents to have a day at the beach on Kaua‘i. It is also a cheap way to deliver military attack systems throughout the Pacific Theater. The Superferry is part of the Navy’s Westpac Express program.

The builder of the Hawaiian Superferry is Austal USA. They have constructed other Westpac Express ships that are virtually identical to the Hawaiian Superferry conforming to the same military specs. They are used to ferry U.S. Marines, and their equipment, between Okinawa and other Japanese Islands. Is any of that cargo ever contaminated with DU?

Will the Superferry be?

Keep in mind that the board of the Superferry corporation is chaired by John Lehman (Former president Ronald Reagan Secretary of the Navy 1981-87), a veteran of the neo-con Heritage Foundation and Project for the New American Century. He has been joined on the board by several associates from his investment consulting firm, Lehman Inc. Interestingly, one board member, John Shirley, has been a consultant to Lehman and has 34 years of experience in senior positions at the Navy Division of Naval Reactors.

Pacific Business News reported on March 26, 2005, that with Lehman’s expertise, the Superferry plans to operate a Westpac Express, essentially to carry military equipment and ferry vehicles from O‘ahu to the Big Island on a daily basis. Lehman told PBN that “This logistical plan will make it easier for soldiers to train when the Stryker Brigade comes to Hawai‘i. The brigade will be stationed on O‘ahu and conduct training exercises on the Big Island.”

The Superferry is intended to transport vehicles and equipment that could be contaminated with DU dust in the field. After battle simulations on the Big Island, will this cargo be inspected for traces of depleted uranium before it is loaded onto the Superferry? Will the Superferry itself be inspected for DU after carrying military shipments?

It seems prudent to examine the possibility of the spread of DU contamination of the Hawaiian Islands by battlefield equipment transported on the Superferry.

Moreover, an OEIS should be conducted to see if a Superferry, operated by the Navy, under its protocol for Westpac Express and not civilian ferry operations, will be subject to U.S. and international marine law. From what we have seen of the Navy’s RIMPAC war games off Kaua‘i this summer and in 2004, it is unlikely the Navy plans on complying with such regulations. We worry that a Westpac Express use of the Superferry will not use civilian avoidance procedures and sonar limitations needed to assure the safety of sea mammals.

The cynical view is that the Superferry can become part of the Navy’s Westpac Express fleet on the cheap ... at least cheap to the Pentagon. The people of Hawai‘i will be footing the bill for the harbor improvements. The investors have federal and state guarantees on their money. Even if the civilian operation goes belly-up, the Navy can still lease the ships for a song and not have to deal with Matson or Young Brothers anymore.

We need an EIS and OEIS to assure the people of Hawai‘i that the Superferry will not be a vector for contaminating our islands with depleted uranium and destroying the lives of sea mammals with Navy operations protocol.

• Juan Wilson is an architect and planner who lives in Hanapepe.