08-05-2016, 03:44 AM
FYI: Update (*Snipped - more at link)
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...-set-today
Participants in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case have filed a flurry of motions ahead of today’s meeting in Hilo, from declaring Mauna Kea sacred to ongoing challenges to Riki May Amano’s selection as hearings officer.
The hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Hilo YMCA, will be the first Amano held since June 17 when she increased the number of people and groups participating from seven to 25.
Aside from a site inspection on Mauna Kea, the proposed site for the $1.4 billion observatory, it could be the last meeting before the evidentiary hearing begins, possibly in October.
If the motions are any indication, there is still quite a bit to sort out.
Since the last meeting, the attorney for the original six petitioners renewed a protest over Amano’s selection, claiming the state entered its contract with her prior to hearing objections.
“It was ‘the cart before the horse’ all over again and the Petitioners did not have an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,” wrote attorney Richard Wurdeman in a motion dated July 26.
He was referencing a comment made by state Supreme Court justices when remanding TMT’s Conservation District use permit back to the state Land Board, resulting in a new contested case hearing.
The court ruled in December that the board violated due process rights of project opponents, many of whom consider the mountain sacred, by approving the permit prior to the first contested case, which involved the University of Hawaii and six petitioners.
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...-set-today
Participants in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case have filed a flurry of motions ahead of today’s meeting in Hilo, from declaring Mauna Kea sacred to ongoing challenges to Riki May Amano’s selection as hearings officer.
The hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Hilo YMCA, will be the first Amano held since June 17 when she increased the number of people and groups participating from seven to 25.
Aside from a site inspection on Mauna Kea, the proposed site for the $1.4 billion observatory, it could be the last meeting before the evidentiary hearing begins, possibly in October.
If the motions are any indication, there is still quite a bit to sort out.
Since the last meeting, the attorney for the original six petitioners renewed a protest over Amano’s selection, claiming the state entered its contract with her prior to hearing objections.
“It was ‘the cart before the horse’ all over again and the Petitioners did not have an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,” wrote attorney Richard Wurdeman in a motion dated July 26.
He was referencing a comment made by state Supreme Court justices when remanding TMT’s Conservation District use permit back to the state Land Board, resulting in a new contested case hearing.
The court ruled in December that the board violated due process rights of project opponents, many of whom consider the mountain sacred, by approving the permit prior to the first contested case, which involved the University of Hawaii and six petitioners.