TMT equipment removed; Protesters praise the decision, express ‘joy and gratitude’

HILO — Heavy machinery parked at the Thirty Meter Telescope construction site atop Mauna Kea for nearly nine months was removed Wednesday, two weeks after the state Supreme Court overturned the giant observatory’s land use permit.

Native Hawaiian opponents of the $1.4 billion project, who call themselves protectors of the mountain, gathered at the summit early in the morning to watch the removal of the bulldozers and other equipment they say desecrate sacred ground.

“There was a lot of joy and gratitude,” said Hawane Rios, who estimated 30 people were present.

She said “No Trespassing” signs and other construction material also were being removed. Two ahu protesters built at the construction site had not been damaged or moved as of that morning, opponents said.

The machinery was hauled to the construction site March 24 but was left largely idle after protesters stood in the way of workers on three occasions, bringing the project to a standstill and causing a few dozen arrests.

On Dec. 2, the high court further delayed the project when it ruled the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated due process by voting to approve the permit in 2011 before a contested case hearing was held.

“We respect the Hawaii Supreme Court decision and, as good neighbors and stewards of the mountain, TMT has begun relocating construction vehicles and equipment from (Mauna Kea),” said Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT International Observatory Board of Governors, in a written statement.

“Some maintenance work was needed before transporting the vehicles down the mountain, given that they have been idle since April. We thank everyone as we assess our next steps forward.”

Scott Ishikawa, a TMT spokesman, said the maintenance work was done Tuesday, marking the first time workers were able to reach the site since spring.

Opponents said they were grateful to see the bulldozers removed, but they also acknowledge their fight isn’t over.

“It’s a good time,” said Ku Ching, one of the project litigants, while sitting outside the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station on Wednesday. “But this isn’t the end.”

He said this was no time for gloating.

“For now, the important thing is the mountain is safe,” Ching said.

Joshua Wisch, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said the permit application remains valid, but officials are waiting to receive more direction from the courts before sending the matter back to the Land Board and holding another contested case hearing. That process could take a year or more.

But it still remains to be seen whether the TMT board and its five partner countries will choose to go through the approval process again.

Ishikawa said a decision won’t be made until the state provides more direction on the process.

“At this point, they haven’t decided whether to move forward or not,” he said.

Assuming it is built, the telescope would be one of three next-generation, ground-based telescopes finished in the next decade. Two others will be located in Chile.

The new state-of-the-art observatories are expected to provide the clearest and deepest images of the universe.

According to TMT, its 180-foot-tall telescope, the only giant observatory planned in the Northern Hemisphere, will have 156 times the light-gathering power and 13 times the resolving power of the Hubble Space Telescope. That could be powerful enough to determine whether life exists, or can exist, on worlds in other solar systems, supporters have said.

Thirteen telescopes are located on the mountain, prized by both astronomers for its clear skies and Hawaiian cultural practitioners who consider it the sacred piko or navel of the islands.

TMT’s partners include Caltech, University of California, Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the national institutes in Japan, China and India.

The project’s sublease for 6 acres on the mountain at the 13,150-foot level remains in effect, and it wasn’t immediately clear if TMT was legally required to remove the equipment.

Kealoha Pisciotta, a spokeswoman for the litigants, said removing the machines was the right decision, whether or not TMT is legally obligated to do so.

“I’m really happy about that, and I know everyone else is because it was causing worry,” she said.