Legislation Targets Kaua`i Air Pollution
This scanned photo, showing a ship docked at Nawiliwili Harbor, was submitted with testimony in support of Senate Bill 2526.
A bill that aims to reduce cruise ship emissions at a Kaua`i harbor is moving through the state Senate. Senate Bill 2526, introduced by Sen. Gary Hooser (D-Kaua`i, Ni`ihau), addresses health problems and pollution that Niumalu-area residents attribute to cruise ships’ bunker fuel burning near Nawiliwili Harbor.
Rep. James Tokioka (D-Lihue, Koloa) introduced a similar House Bill 2919, but the House committees on Transportation and Tourism and Culture deferred action on the measure, effectively killing the House version for this session.
Environmental groups and many Kaua`i residents had sent written testimony in support of the legislation, asking for a timely solution to what they described as a tangible black residue covering their homes and dangerous fumes around the harbor.
Kaua`i resident Carl Berg testified on Senate Bill 2526. Pictured are Sen. Gordon Trimble, Sen. Gary Hooser, the bill’s introducer, and Sen. Ron Menor, chair of the Senate Energy and Environment committee.
Carl Berg, a resident of Nawiliwili Bay, environmental scientist and former Department of Health employee, said he did not think the DOH’s past tests were accurate because the tests measured only ambient air and did not sample the harbor’s most-polluted areas.
“This is not acceptable. We smell it, we see it, it’s on our windows and we’re getting sick,” he said last Thursday.
Carnival’s Princess Cruises and Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Lines sent representatives to testify in opposition during the bill’s hearing before the Senate Health and Energy and Environment committees. However, Princess Cruises and Holland America supported the intent of the bill and agreed to voluntarily burn cleaner fuel.
Alan Yamamoto, vice president for Norwegian’s Hawai`i operations, said that the state needs to comprehensively evaluate the situation before creating a new law.
The bill originally prohibited burning fuel with more than 1,000 parts per million of sulfur, but Senate committees changed the restriction to 5,000 or more because of industry pressure, Hooser said.
In response to concerns that the bill might take effect statewide, the Senate committees amended Bill 2526 and passed it on Tuesday afternoon. The bill’s new language clarifies that the sulfur reduction is to be observed only by ships docked at Nawiliwili Harbor instead of within the original five-mile boundary. The amended bill also calls for a three-year pilot testing regimen to compare air quality before and after the new restrictions take effect.
“At the end of three years, data will be evaluated and a decision will be made whether to continue the restrictions or not,” Hooser said.