Hawaii’s supreme court has ruled that construction of the protest-hit Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) can begin. In a ruling yesterday, judges rejected an appeal to a decision last year by Hawaii’s Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) to grant a construction permit to the TMT. This is the last hurdle before construction, should the TMT International Observatory (TIO) still go ahead with its preferred site on Mauna Kea.
The TMT will be one of the world’s largest ground-based telescopes with a 30 m primary mirror that is made up of 492 hexagonal segments. The structure that will house the telescope will be 66 m wide and 56 m tall. Mauna Kea was chosen as the observatory’s site in July 2009 and officials then began work on being granted the necessary approvals and permits. However, after construction began in 2014, some native Hawaiians protested. They regard the Mauna Kea summit as sacred and had previously objected to the growth in the number of telescopes there. This then led to the TMT organisation postponing construction.
We remain committed to being good stewards on the mountain and inclusive of the Hawaiian community
Henry Yang
In December 2015, Hawaii’s supreme court invalidated TMT’s building permit, ruling that the BLNR had not followed due process when it was approved. In early 2017, due to the disruption to proceedings, the TMT organisation chose La Palma in the Canary Islands as a back-up site. The BLNR then appointed retired judge Riki May Amano to re-hear the case and in July 2017 he recommended that the BLNR reissue the permit, which it did on 28 September that year. However, opponents of the decision challenged the new permit before the supreme court. In a 73-page ruling, released yesterday, the supreme court has now agreed with the BLNR’s decision. Go-ahead for protest-hit telescope in Hawaii
“We are grateful for the Hawaii State Supreme Court’s ruling that will allow TMT to be built on Mauna Kea,” says Henry Yang, who chairs the TIO’s board of governors, in a statement. “We remain committed to being good stewards on the mountain and inclusive of the Hawaiian community. We honor the culture of the islands and its people and do our part to contribute to its future through our ongoing support of education and Hawaii Islands’ young people.” Yang adds that the group are “excited to move forward in Hawaii” and to “continue to respect and follow state and county regulations, as we determine our next steps.”
The TMT organisation must now submit construction plans to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for review and approval. If construction begins next year then the telescope could be complete by 2023.
