State spending on Hawaii Superferry continues to mount, with $5 million in additional costs so far, on top of the $40 million designated for ferry-related improvements at four harbors.

The latest request for additional funding came last week from the Department of Transportation, which is seeking an exemption from state procurement rules to increase its contract with Belt Collins Hawaii Ltd. for environmental studies from $1 million to $1.7 million.

Unbudgeted costs still to come include $1 million to $1.5 million for a new mooring system at Kahului Harbor, $250,000 to $350,000 to clear berthing space at Honolulu Harbor for Hawaii Superferry's second vessel, and a shoreside ramp at Kawaihae Harbor whose price tag has not been calculated.

It's not clear who will be footing the bill for those projects. Michael Formby, head of the DOT's Harbors Division, said the agency is discussing the funding issue with Hawaii Superferry.

"The government has essentially reached the limits of the $40 million legislative appropriation for ferry harbor infrastructure," he said. "As such, no decision has been made as to how the replacement Kahului mooring system or improvements to accommodate a tandem berthing arrangement at Piers 19 and 20 in Honolulu will be funded."

Superferry officials acknowledged the negotiations but would not comment further.

The $1.7 million for environmental studies includes $1.5 million for an environmental impact statement required by Act 2, passed by the Legislature in October 2007 in response to a Maui court case that halted Superferry service.

Act 2 allowed the ferry to resume sailing on the condition an EIS be prepared. A draft EIS by Belt Collins was released this month and a completed version is expected mid-summer.

A parallel "rapid risk assessment" by Belt Collins to immediately evaluate the 40-plus operating conditions placed on the Superferry by the state cost $214,740, and a court-ordered supplemental traffic impact study in a separate legal challenge cost $71,806, according to DOT records.

State Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (East Maui, Upcountry, Moloka'i, Lana'i, Kaho'olawe), said the cost of environmental studies for state-funded projects such as the ferry-related harbor improvements should be borne by the private interests that benefit from them.

English introduced a bill Friday in direct response to the "hidden costs" associated with the Superferry controversy. Under the proposed measure, in cases in which a state agency builds infrastructure necessary to a user's operations, the user would be responsible for preparing and funding any required environmental assessments and impact statements.

Other unanticipated costs associated with the ferry service include almost $3 million spent dealing with the troublesome barge and mooring system at Kahului Harbor, which has been damaged on several occasions during wave surges in the harbor. The barge, equipped with a ramp, is used to load and unload vehicles from Superferry's 350-foot, high-speed vessel.

It cost the DOT $504,000 to hire a tug boat from December 2007 through September 2008 to push the barge against the end of Pier 2C while the ferry is in port, according to records.

Hawaii Superferry has been paying for the tug boat since Oct. 1, but disputes that it should be charged for the service, Formby said.

Additional barge-related costs include $2.4 million to Moffatt & Nichol, $11,000 to Alion Science and Technology, and $1,775 to Hawaii Marine Co., all for marine engineering services. An additional $2,900 was paid to ABS Americas to survey the damaged barge in preparation for the latest repairs.

MAUI BARGE REPAIRS

The last of the $40 million earmarked to build barges, ramps and other ferry-related equipment and facilities is being spent on the actual repairs to the battered Maui barge. Formby said the state is paying Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc. $414,000 to fix the barge's structural components, which sustained significant damage from months of rough contact with the end of Pier 2C and from the force of the tugboat pushing it against the pier.

In the meantime, DOT is awaiting an Army Corps of Engineers permit for the new mooring system that will hold the barge off the pier so it can ride the swells when the ferry is not in port.

The DOT, Hawaii Superferry and Healy Tibbitts, which designed and built the barge, remain locked in a dispute over who's at fault for the problems and whether any financial settlements are in order.

State Sen. Shan Tsutsui, D-4th (Wailuku, Kahului), said the unanticipated expenses could have been avoided if the state hadn't rushed the ferry projects and exempted the harbor improvements from environmental review in 2005. Courts later ruled the exemption was improper.

Tsutsui was among a group of lawmakers who unsuccessfully pushed for legislation requiring an environmental review before the launch of ferry service. He said he was skeptical from the start that DOT spending for Hawaii Superferry would be limited to $40 million and didn't like the idea that the state was building facilities to benefit "one private company."

The state says the facilities are not for Superferry's exclusive use and can accommodate other ferry companies, although no other ferry service is planned.

"I didn't think they were forthcoming in terms of giving us all the information we needed to make good decisions ... ," Tsutsui said. "And with the situation we're in, where we're looking at ways to downsize the budget, this makes the problem even worse."

Trouble with the Kahului barge and questions about whether dockside barges and ramps were even necessary are examples of issues that weren't given enough study, he said. Hawaii Superferry's second vessel is being built with a stern ramp that will be lowered for loading and unloading. Its first vessel does not have a ramp.

"We were told they needed to have the barges and that there was no way they could operate with a ship that had an off-loading ramp on board, and now they're telling us they can," Tsutsui said.

Other DOT costs associated with Hawaii Superferry include security expenses at Nawiliwili and Kahului harbors during the company's ill-fated attempt to launch interisland service in August 2007 amid protests. The ferry made two trips to Maui before being halted by a court order. On Kaua'i, protesters greeted the ferry on its first voyage and stopped the vessel from docking at Nawiliwili a second day.

Superferry resumed service to Maui in December 2007 but has yet to return to Kaua'i.

COSTLY SECURITY

The DOT reported that it spent $80,208 to purchase road barriers from GP Roadway Solutions to be used at Nawiliwili Harbor in response to the protests, and $12,007 for laptop computers from Technology Integration Group for use at the "incident command post," Formby said.

An additional $1,124 was spent on state sheriffs.

Act 2 also established an oversight task force to examine issues surrounding ferry operations, such as the potential spread of invasive species, threats to humpback whales and depletion of Native Hawaiian subsistence resources.

The task force, which disbanded at the end of 2008, cost $13,605, according to the DOT.

The list of DOT expenses does not include costs incurred by the state Department of the Attorney General during its four-year legal battle with three groups opposing Hawaii Superferry operations on environmental grounds. The case history includes numerous hearings and document filings, a four-week trial in Maui Circuit Court, and a pending appeal before the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

The tally of court-related costs was not immediately available.

Other ferry expenses include $37,238 for placing Department of Agriculture inspectors at the Honolulu and Kahului ports from Dec. 14, 2007, to Oct. 31, 2008. The cost of using conservation and enforcement officers from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to assist with passenger and vehicle screening was $31,156 for the first quarter of 2008, or an estimated $124,624 for all of 2008.

The state has since scaled back use of agriculture inspectors and DLNR officers to occasional visits to the ferry terminals.

Irene Bowie, executive director of Maui Tomorrow, one of the groups involved in the legal case, said the DOT list of ferry-related costs shouldn't be considered a comprehensive accounting of taxpayer costs. Missing are such expenses as the cost of convening a special legislative session, public meetings and a state auditor's investigation.

"The meter is running on this thing, and in these really tough times it just seems more and more that it was a mistake to go forward without really factoring in what was needed," Bowie said. "A lot of this stuff they were warned about by their own DOT staff. Everything about this operation was a rush when no real rush existed, and we're paying for it now, literally."

Maritime companies including Hawaii Superferry that use state harbors are on the hook for paying the $40 million spent on barges, ramps and other infrastructure. The state issued general obligation reimbursable bonds to cover the projects, and money to pay off the debt is coming from the DOT Harbor Fund, which contains harbor-use charges, rental fees and other sources of income.

Under the terms of its operating agreement with the DOT, Hawaii Superferry must pay a minimum of $2.3 million or 1 percent of its gross revenues, whichever is greater, in each of the first three years of the 22-year deal. Future payment amounts will be renegotiated.

Formby said the company is current with its monthly payments of at least $191,000. Like other harbor users, Hawaii Superferry also pays dockage, passenger and vehicle fees.