12-12-2016, 03:59 AM
It's the million visiting tourists a year to the TMT site that may also cause environmental harm or impacts to the summit area that should be included or predicted in the EIS.
When those tourists rent a car, they sign a contract in which they promise not to take the car off pavement; the Mauna Kea access road is unpaved.
Will these million tourists risk heavy penalties for violating their rental contract and/or damaging their rental vehicle?
No, they'll probably take a package tour -- in which case those tourbuses can be covered by additional regulations to protect the mountain, possibly including a checkpoint and payment of fees to mitigate the impact.
Of course, we'll have to beg State for this, because the top of Mauna Kea is beyond County's control...
As a though exercise: assume the million tourists all drive their rental cars to the top of Mauna Kea. Rentals are new, low-mileage vehicles which have not yet developed leaks. How many rental cars does it take to equal the environmental impact of one leaky local vehicle? It's entirely possible that the "protectors" created more contamination than either tourists or telescope staff -- and that's just the oil/coolant, not the urine/feces.
When those tourists rent a car, they sign a contract in which they promise not to take the car off pavement; the Mauna Kea access road is unpaved.
Will these million tourists risk heavy penalties for violating their rental contract and/or damaging their rental vehicle?
No, they'll probably take a package tour -- in which case those tourbuses can be covered by additional regulations to protect the mountain, possibly including a checkpoint and payment of fees to mitigate the impact.
Of course, we'll have to beg State for this, because the top of Mauna Kea is beyond County's control...
As a though exercise: assume the million tourists all drive their rental cars to the top of Mauna Kea. Rentals are new, low-mileage vehicles which have not yet developed leaks. How many rental cars does it take to equal the environmental impact of one leaky local vehicle? It's entirely possible that the "protectors" created more contamination than either tourists or telescope staff -- and that's just the oil/coolant, not the urine/feces.