Telescope project could face new delay
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — In what may be another delay for the beleaguered W.M. Keck Observatory "outrigger" telescope, a hearings officer yesterday recommended a six-month deferral of a key state permit.
However, hearings officer Michael Gibson said steps can be taken to offset the environmental and cultural effects from the $50 million project atop Mauna Kea, and he proposed that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources allow the project to advance next year.
In the meantime, Gibson said the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy must file an acceptable management plan for the Keck site, a step that is required under state administrative rules. Gibson rejected two management plans UH has filed, saying one was defective and the other was filed too late.
Gibson also proposed special restrictions and conditions for the project, including a proposal that everyone involved in Keck from construction crews to astronomers be trained in the cultural significance of Mauna Kea and how to behave there.
The Keck outrigger project would allow astronomers to add up to six new six-foot telescopes around the Keck observatory. The additional telescopes are being financed by NASA as part of its Origins Program and would improve the images taken by Keck.
Hawaiian activists and environmentalists demanded a contested-case hearing over the project, arguing that continuing astronomy development on Mauna Kea is damaging the environment and desecrating sites sacred to Hawaiians.
The summit of Mauna Kea, or "White Mountain" in Hawaiian, has 13 observatories operated by a total of 11 countries. Mauna Kea is home to more major telescopes than any other mountain peak.
Scientists and business leaders on the Big Island see the observatories as a source of high-tech jobs and a magnet for outside investment. They contend that new construction on the mountain is essential to add the newest technology to keep the Mauna Kea observatories on the leading edge of astronomy.
The Keck project already has suffered delays, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has sued in federal court to try to force NASA to prepare a federal environmental impact statement for the project.
Deborah J. Ward, who has been assisting the Sierra Club during the contested case hearing, said the outrigger project should not be allowed to progress until the university develops a comprehensive management plan for the entire Mauna Kea summit area.
"They don't fund environmental management appropriately," Ward said. "They don't protect the cultural resources, nor do they mitigate desecration, and they don't have a burial plan."
Kealoha Pisciotta, an activist with Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and an intervenor in the case, said she had mixed feelings about Gibson's proposal. She was pleased that he rejected the university's proposed management plan, but questioned Gibson's proposals to "mitigate" the environmental and cultural effects of the project.
"I'm not sure that training them about desecration while they're desecrating it is somehow going to mitigate anything," she said.
Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the Institute for Astronomy, said the recommendations by Gibson were fair and balanced, and said he does not believe they will cause a major delay of the project.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources will decide whether to accept Gibson's recommendations at a meeting in Hilo on June 26.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
