The stars are still in reach for astronomers who want to build a $1.4 billion telescope on top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.
A year and a half after the Hawaiian Supreme Court revoked the telescope’s building permit,
saying that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources had cut
corners in the application process, a judge recommended on Wednesday
that the board issue a new permit.
The
telescope’s opponents, a coalition of native Hawaiians and
environmentalists, say that the proliferation of observatories on Mauna
Kea has despoiled a sacred mountain and interfered with native Hawaiian cultural practices that are protected by state law.
The
judge’s recommendation included the condition that the telescope’s
workers and astronomers undergo “mandatory cultural and natural
resources training.”
The
telescope’s backers, a consortium that includes the University of
California, California Institute of Technology, India, China and Canada,
called the decision an important milestone, but cautioned that it was
only one in a series of bureaucratic and political hurdles to overcome.
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The
Thirty Meter Telescope, as it is known, would be the largest telescope
in the Northern Hemisphere, with a primary light-gathering mirror 30
meters, or some 100 feet, in diameter.
Astronomers
say it would be able to study planets around other stars and peer into
the black-hole hearts of distant galaxies with a clarity exceeding that
of the Hubble Space Telescope.
It is one of three such behemoth telescopes
under development worldwide. But the other two, the Giant Magellan
Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope, are being built in
Chile and thus will not be able to survey the half of the universe
visible in the Northern sky.
Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest mountain, has long been considered the best observatory site in
the Northern Hemisphere and is already home to a passel of large
telescopes. It is also a sacred place in Hawaiian culture and religion.
A
coalition of cultural activists and environmentalists has opposed the
Thirty Meter project, citing, among other things, an environmental
impact statement that concluded that 30 years of astronomy had had “an
adverse effect” on nature and native culture on the mountain.
At
18 stories high, the new telescope would be the biggest building on the
Big Island, an industrial-scale installation, opponents say, that would
violate the rules for the mountain, which is a special conservation
district.
In
2015, a groundbreaking for the telescope project was broken up by
protesters, who then blockaded the road up the mountain, preventing
equipment and construction workers from passing.
In
December of that year, the Hawaiian Supreme Court concluded that the
state board had not followed due process when it approved a building
permit before holding what is known as a contested case hearing where
opponents could have their say.
The
decision was made by retired Judge Riki May Amano, who was appointed by
the land board to rehear the case. It followed 44 days of testimony by
71 witnesses over six months in a hotel room in Hilo, Hawaii.
The
testimony ended in March with all the participants, pro and con, and
their lawyers holding hands and singing “Hawaii Aloha,” according to
Clarence Ching, a Hawaiian activist and lawyer who was there.
From Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, a Universe of Discoveries
Mauna Kea’s telescopes have helped advance important
discoveries in humanity’s study of the universe.
But
the controversy is hardly over. Next the entire Board of Land and
Natural Resources will hear arguments and decide whether to accept Judge
Amano’s decision. Whichever side wins, the decision will be immediately
appealed to the Hawaiian Supreme Court.
Even
if the telescope wins in the Supreme Court, it is unclear whether the
“guardians of the mountain,” as they called themselves, will relent and
let trucks proceed up Mauna Kea.
Gov.
David Ige has professed his support for the Thirty Meter Telescope, but
he was criticized two years ago for allowing protesters to control the
mountain.
Whatever
the land board’s decision, Governor Ige said in a statement, “I support
the coexistence of astronomy and culture on Mauna Kea along with better
management of the mountain.”
In
an interview last year, Edward Stone, a Caltech professor who is
executive director of the Thirty Meter Telescope International
Observatory, or TIO, as it is officially known, set April 2018 as the
deadline for construction to begin.
If the telescope cannot be built on Mauna Kea, he said, it will be built in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Spain.
In
a statement, Dr. Stone said, “TMT welcomes the recommendation that a
state permit be issued, and we respectfully look forward to the next
steps.”
“We
are grateful to all our supporters and friends who have been with us
during the hearing process and over the past 10 years, and we remain
respectful of the process to ensure the proper stewardship of Maunakea.”
In
a statement to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Kealoha Pisciotta, a
leader of the opposition to the telescope (and a former telescope
operator on Mauna Kea), said she was disappointed “but this is really
only the beginning of a very lengthy legal battle that will most likely
take us back to the State of Hawaii’s Supreme Court.”
