TMT - Contested Case Hearing Status - Hilo

[Eric1600]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/6001917.html

There it is. No details other than:

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has voted 5-2 to approve a Conservation District Use Permit to build the Thirty Meter Telescope

[kalakoa]

A little more:

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/loca...tmt-permit

Under the use permit, builders of the TMT must provide an additional $1 million each year for college scholarships for native Hawaiians and other educational initiatives on Hawaii Island.

The Board adopted 43 conditions to the permit including Gov. David Ige's previously detailed "path forward" 10-point plan requiring the University of Hawaii to decommission three existing telescopes, any future development to occur on existing sites, and the TMT site to be the last new site on Mauna Kea.

Nothing about appeals. Probably in tomorrow's revision.

[Eric1600]

Here is the finding.

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/mk/files/2017/09...FCOLDO.pdf


The Board adopts the hearing officer’s recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law, and
decision and order, with modifications, including additional conditions. The Board commends
the hearing officer’s thorough, comprehensive and well-considered report, prepared after 44 days
of hearings. The Board’s modifications are consistent with the hearing officer’s factual findings
and legal conclusions. Along with minor corrections, the changes mostly give further
explanations for some aspects of the decision.

Because of the length of this document, the Board thought it would be useful to the parties and
public to give a brief summary. This Preface cannot describe fully how the Board considered
various factors. It is not intended to replace or supplement the findings of fact, conclusions of
law, and decision and order, and they prevail in case of any perceived conflict between them and
this Preface.

The TMT is a very large structure, 180 feet tall, proposed near the top of a culturally important
and magnificently beautiful mountain. This project is not, however, on an untouched landscape.
Mauna Kea now hosts twelve observatories, including six that are between 100 and 151 feet tall.
The first large telescope on Mauna Kea was completed forty-seven years ago.
The TMT will not pollute groundwater, will not damage any historic sites, will not harm rare
plants or animals, will not release toxic materials, and will not otherwise harm the environment.
It will not significantly change the appearance of the summit of Mauna Kea from populated areas
on Hawai‘i Island.

The TMT site and its vicinity were not used for traditional and customary native Hawaiian
practices conducted elsewhere on Mauna Kea, such as depositing piko, quarrying rock for adzes,
pilgrimages, collecting water from Lake Waiau, or burials. The site is not on the summit ridge,
which is more visible, and, according to most evidence presented, more culturally important than
the plateau 500 feet lower where TMT will be built.

Some groups perform ceremonies near the summit. The evidence shows that these ceremonies
began after the summit access road and first telescopes were built, but, in any case, the TMT will
not interfere with them.

Individuals testified that seeing the TMT will disturb them when they are doing ceremonies or
other spiritual practices. The TMT cannot be seen from the actual summit or from many other
places on the summit ridge. Where it would be visible, other large telescopes are already in
view. It will not block views from the summit ridge of the rising sun, setting sun, or Haleakal#257;.
Some native Hawaiians expressed that Mauna Kea is so sacred that the very idea of a large
structure is offensive. But there are already twelve observatories on Mauna Kea, some of them
almost as large as the TMT. They will remain even if the TMT is not built. No credible evidence
was presented that the TMT would somehow be worse from a spiritual or cultural point of view
than the other large observatories. Each observatory received a permit after a process allowing
public participation and judicial review, over a period spanning three decades.

To the extent that the belief that Mauna Kea is too sacred to allow large structures is a religious
one, under the federal and state constitutions a group’s religious beliefs cannot be given veto
power over the use of public land.

Other witnesses, including some native Hawaiians, embrace a different way of thinking and
feeling about the TMT: as a project that honors Mauna Kea rather than injures it. After a
worldwide search, scientists found that Mauna Kea is the best site on earth for the most advanced
telescope ever built. Mauna Kea will forever be known throughout the world as the site of
profound discoveries about the universe. These witnesses see TMT and the other telescopes, not
as objects spoiling the landscape, but as portals to discovery placed in this site made ideal for
them.

To these witnesses, respect for Mauna Kea can be reconciled with modern astronomy. When
ancient Hawaiians found a resource valuable to them – the densest rock in Hawai‘i – near the
summit of Mauna Kea, they made use of it, quarrying hundreds of acres. Ancient Hawaiians
intensely studied the stars in ways consistent with their technology. Traditional Hawaiian
navigation depended upon knowledge of the stars.

King David Kal#257;kaua enthusiastically supported astronomy in Hawai‘i. He wrote: "It will afford
me unfeigned satisfaction if my kingdom can add its quota toward the successful
accomplishment of the most important astronomical observation of the present century..."
TMT will contribute $1 million a year toward education, and has signed a sublease agreement
committing $300,000/yr. at first, increasing to $1 million/yr., for conservation on Mauna Kea.
No existing observatory makes any such contributions.

Astronomy directly supports about 1,000 jobs in Hawai’i. TMT will employ about 140 people.
The decision contains 43 special conditions to ensure that the project lives up to its
environmental commitments, that the educational fund will help the underserved members of the
community, that TMT will train and hire local workers, and that the native Hawaiian cultural
presence at Hale P#333;haku will be enhanced.

Astronomers discovered that the earth goes around the sun; that we live in one of more than 100
billion galaxies; that our universe expanded from a single point 13.7 billion years ago. These
discoveries shape how we see our place in the universe. Other telescopes on Mauna Kea have
already contributed to human knowledge. TMT, if built, will do the same.

One native Hawaiian story about the origin of Mauna Kea is that Wakea, "Sky Father", and Papa,
"Earth Mother", created a child, Hawai’i Island. Mauna Kea is the highest summit of the island,
this union of heaven and earth. Today, Mauna Kea is the best place on earth to study the
heavens.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Something for everyone.

For native Hawaiians in favor of the observatory: TMT: as a project that honors Mauna Kea rather than injures it.

For native Hawaiians who oppose the observatory: future development to occur on existing sites, and the TMT site to be the last new site on Mauna Kea

For Hawaiian practitioners: Individuals testified that seeing the TMT will disturb them when they are doing ceremonies or other spiritual practices. The TMT cannot be seen from the actual summit or from many other places on the summit ridge.

For native Hawaiian keiki: an additional $1 million each year for college scholarships for native Hawaiians

For the local economy: TMT will employ about 140 people.

For the environment: $1 million/yr., for conservation on Mauna Kea.

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?

[kalakoa]

Something for everyone.

Except those who wanted nothing.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Except those who wanted nothing.

In a way, those who demanded absolutely nothing, did get nothing. Just not the way they expected.

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?

[kalakoa]

Just not the way they expected.

Correct: they were demanding nothing for anyone, not just themselves.

[Guest]

I for one am very disappointed that the land board approved the TMT permit. This approval is not a surprise in fact it was very predictable from the beginning.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2017/0...mt-permit/

Stay tuned because We WILL be seeing thousands of Protectors and Warriors stand or rise for the Aina, Mauna Kea and the Kanaka race once again. Very sad that the BLNR and state has decided to make their beds in this manner, they will have to sleep with this decision for a long time. jmo

[PaulW]

Let's see if the Protestors respect the law. Spoiler alert...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

We WILL be seeing thousands of Protectors and Warriors stand or rise

If they do, they will still remain a minority of Native Hawaiians. The majority are in favor of the TMT. And what about the keiki? Would you take away the million dollars in scholarships native Hawaiian keiki will receive? I've heard it said "the keiki are our future." What have you heard? The loudmouths are our future?

By the way, did you find out any more about your relatives passage on the Nina, the Pinta or the Santa Maria, and how they eventually swam to Maryland?

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?