The governor wants a special legislative session to fix problems her administration created by not requiring preparation of an environmental assessment for the Hawaii Superferry.

Before we spend public resources trying to save Superferry from the mistakes of the Lingle administration and Superferry's own mistakes, we should take a hard look at the history.

Two and a half years ago, two federal agencies tried to get Superferry to pay attention to potential environmental impacts from operating their large, high-speed boat. The Marine Mammal Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service expressed concerns that Superferry was not consulting with federal agencies regarding potential impacts on marine mammals and on endangered species.

Superferry, however, stated that it had a plan. This indifference to federal concerns and their evading federal review fits the pattern of Superferry behavior in general.

Superferry knew in 2005 that there was environmental litigation pending, i.e. the appeal from the Maui dismissal. The possibility existed then that the state Supreme Court would reverse the Maui court and find an EA to be required.

Superferry chose to take that business risk. They again chose to ignore the concerns regarding the environment and attempted to evade environmental requirements. Their failure is their kuleana.

Their failure is also a garden variety business failure that happens every day when companies are wrong in their risk assessment. Just because Superferry happens to be bigger than most business failures does not mean that they deserve special treatment not given to other businesses that make the wrong decision.

How many dollars does a company have to lose through bad business decisions before they qualify for the law to be changed to save them from their own mistakes?

After evading federal and state scrutiny of its environmental impacts, Superferry finally got caught by the coalition that brought the Maui suit and the Hawai'i Supreme Court. Superferry has no one to blame but Superferry. Asking the public to absorb Superferry's environmental impacts after such a history is unfair.

And let's be clear about those impacts: If the EA shows that there are potentially significant environmental effects, then an environmental impact statement is required. Will the pressure to continue lead to another special session being called to allow Superferry to operate for years while an EIS is being conducted? How badly will Superferry damage the environment during those years? Why should the people of Hawai'i play Russian roulette with potentially damaging environmental impacts, just so a private corporation can make a profit?

The governor and the director of the Department of Transportation are responsible for the failure to make the correct decision regarding an environmental assessment. Now they want the Legislature to make it all right.

This legislative approach comes after the governor tried to use brute force and called for law enforcement agencies at the federal, state and local level to join in a plan that could have resulted in disaster on Kaua'i.

Now the governor wants to have a special session to break the rules legally.

Before the Legislature listens to the governor, it should ask her a few questions, among them:

How could the state let it get to this point?

Lanny Sinkin is an attorney in Hilo and has been active in Superferry issues, including filing for a temporary restraining order to block the Nawiliwili Harbor security zone. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.