The announcement was made jointly with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which had challenged a less-comprehensive NASA study, an environmental assessment, in federal court.

Officials estimated that the study could cost as much as $1 million. No comprehensive federal impact statement has ever been prepared to assess the overall cultural and environmental impacts of astronomy on Mauna Kea, and critics of development on the mountain say one is long overdue.

Ken Kumor, NASA’s federal preservation officer who also monitors the agency’s compliance with environmental law, said the EIS process will begin with public meetings in December and January. NASA aims to complete a draft statement in late May or early June and to finish the final document by fall, Kumor said, but those deadlines can extend if needed to "get this EIS right."

Haunani Apoliona, who chairs the OHA Board of Trustees, praised NASA for going beyond the July court order for revisions in the environmental assessment, which federal Judge Susan Oki Mollway ruled was flawed. Mollway did not compel the agency to do a full EIS.

"We welcome NASA’s commitment to this process as a positive step, and see this as a demonstration of good faith by NASA in building trust and in fulfilling its obligations as stewards of this sacred site," Apoliona said.

Carl Pilcher, NASA’s program scientist on the project, said the agency decided to move ahead with an impact statement now to fulfill community desires for one. Also, he said, Mollway had ordered NASA to look at cumulative impacts from the project, and that analysis might tell the agency that a full impact statement is needed, anyway.

The 13,796-foot mountain is considered sacred by some Hawaiians. The University of Hawai'i began developing the summit of Mauna Kea for astronomy in the 1960s, and now there are 13 observatories there operated by 11 countries.

More major telescopes are on Mauna Kea than on any other mountain peak.

A significant concession

The announcement, expected this morning in a news conference at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, in Honolulu is a significant concession by NASA, which is paying for the $50 million Keck outrigger project.

The project would allow astronomers to add up to six 6-foot telescopes around the Keck Observatory. The new telescopes are expected to enhance the images taken by the Keck, which is the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world.

The outrigger telescopes are a major part of NASA’s Origins Program to study how stars and planetary systems form, and whether habitable planets exist around nearby stars.

Hawaiian-culture issues

Among those witnessing today’s announcement was Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, an organization that has opposed the observatory expansion. The group’s chief concerns about the project have been its potential damage to the mountain’s water supply, its impact on any area burial sites and on whether it would interfere with various Hawaiian cultural practices.

The group participated in a contested-case proceeding in Hilo this year to try to block the state permit for the project. Its position has been to oppose any new installations on Mauna Kea, Pisciotta said, "but at a minimum, we could go for recycling of existing sites ... we don’t want any more of the area leveled."

Pisciotta said Native Hawaiians use water from Lake Waiau on the mountain for medicinal purposes, conduct navigational rites before canoe voyages and hold ceremonies marking solstices and equinoxes. Changing the topography can interfere with these practices and is seen as disrespectful to Poliahu, the snow goddess whom the mountain represents, she said.

Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the U.H. Institute for Astronomy, said today that the astronomers stationed at Mauna Kea have "a deep respect for the cultural significance of the mountain" and accommodate them whenever possible.

Kudritzki acknowledged that conflicts remain over the project but added that he’s heartened by what he described as "a very constructive step forward" enabling a dialogue between NASA and the Hawaiian community.