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The state Department of Transportation will seek competitive bids on a contract for an environmental assessment for harbor improvements to handle the Hawaii Superferry, Deputy Transportation Director Michael Formby said Tuesday.

The department previously had announced that it would seek to issue the contract for an environmental assessment mandated by a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling to Belt Collins, the contractor already preparing an environmental impact statement on the Kahului Harbor 2030 Master Plan.

The reversal on the contracting plan is framed by the ongoing hearing in 2nd Circuit Court on Maui, where on Tuesday Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim got to testify that he supports the Hawaii Superferry.

He was able to present his views only after lawyer Isaac Hall objected repeatedly that “Maui has its own mayor, Maui has its own civil defense director” who could testify about the impacts of allowing the ferry to operate while an environmental assessment is being completed.

Hall said Kim’s testimony would be irrelevant, since the ferry is not going to operate to Big Island ports in the near future. He represents “an island unaffected by whether the Superferry docks at Kahului Harbor,” Hall said.

Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza allowed Kim’s testimony, but said he would consider its “weight.” He said he would not allow Kim to offer mere “commentary.”

The issue before Cardoza is whether the Superferry should operate while the environmental assessment is being prepared.

In Honolulu, the State Procurement Office on Friday posted a notice of the request for professional services for an environmental assessment on four harbors that will serve the Superferry. The deadline for responses is Sept. 25.

Maui attorney Lance Collins, who had filed an objection to the nonbid procurement plan, said Tuesday night he was “totally pleased” with the decision.

“For my clients, their issue was that this was clearly a project that required procurement by competition,” Collins said.

Formby said he determined that the bid process would add only about three weeks to the time needed to award a contract for an environmental assessment.

“Based on that determination, we felt it was not a significant amount of time for having the contract awarded and we withdrew the request for an exemption,” he said.

In the 2nd Circuit Court hearing, Superferry lawyer John Lacy asked Kim about the value of the 350-foot ferry in an emergency. Kim made his political reputation as the Big Island civil defense director.

Kim said he could imagine – “God forbid” – a cruise ship sinking off the coast of the Big Island with more than 3,000 passengers and crew aboard. In that situation, he said he would be calling on “any type of floating device.”

He also recalled his trip to Kauai after Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Transportation was an issue then, he said, both in getting rescue personnel to the island and equipment, such as water tankers and trucks to repair natural gas systems.

On cross-examination, Hall asked if there weren’t other ships in Hawaii that could transport tanker trucks. Kim said there were.

But he gave the example he faced earlier this year, when he needed to get some emergency pipe to the other side of his island to deal with a drought and lines broken by an earthquake.

It cost $300,000, Kim said, and barge capacity was not sufficient.

More generally, Kim testified that he approved of more transportation alternatives among islands.

“When I first heard of this possibility,” Kim said, “I recalled dreams about additional ways to travel. When we were kids, we all dreamed about a bridge. But then reality sets in.”

Hall asked Kim about the potential for spreading pests among islands. Kim said he had long had concerns about “the weakness” in the way Hawaii’s environmental laws work. They “lack one important element – the findings for mitigation.”

There isn’t follow-up after the environmental assessment, he said. If the ferry is followed up, that would show the way to go.

He said he saw no harm in letting voyages begin before the EA is complete, he said.

Noting that alien coqui frogs and fire ants, have been established on the Big Island, Hall asked what interception measures had been in place to keep them out.

Kim said he didn’t think there was any screening, except “for drugs.”

Hall’s clients, Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow and Kahului Harbor Coalition, are seeking a permanent injunction to keep the ferry away from Maui until the EA is done.

He has presented all his witnesses but one, Greg Kaufman of the Pacific Whale Foundation, who is expected to testify Friday.

Hawaii Superferry has begun presenting its witnesses, and attorney Lisa Munger said she expected to be finished by the end of the week.

Next week, the state will begin presenting its witnesses.

On Tuesday afternoon, Superferry took testimony from traffic consultant Dick Kaku. The questioning was similar to testimony presented before 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August, who is presiding over a separate but similar lawsuit in his courtroom.

At that time, Kaku said he did not believe vehicles entering or leaving the Superferry yard would lower the levels of service at nearby intersections.

Hall led him over those figures again. Kaku stuck to his views, even when Hall pointed out that some turning movements would increase by four times after the ferry begins operating.

Kaku’s theories have not yet been tested. The ferry’s first trip was on a Sunday, when traffic was light. The second and last trip was run under stringent restrictions that August issued to slow the departure of arriving vehicles from the harbor.

On that same day, Cardoza issued a temporary restraining order that barred the ferry from voyaging into Kahului Harbor until he determines whether it can operate while an environmental assessment is being prepared.

Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.