Hawaii Supreme Court upholds permit for giant telescope

After years of delay, including lengthy court battles and passionate protests from those willing to be arrested for blocking construction crews, builders of a giant telescope plan to move forward with constructing the USD 1.4 billion instrument on a Hawaii mountain that is considered sacred.

The state Supreme Court's 4-1 ruling Tuesday is a victory for the contentious Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Hawaii's tallest mountain, Mauna Kea.

Opponents say the telescope will desecrate sacred land on the Big Island.

Supporters say it will bring educational and economic opportunities to the state.

"Astronomy and Native Hawaiian uses on Mauna Kea have co-existed for many years and the TMT Project will not curtail or restrict Native Hawaiian uses," the ruling said. The advanced telescope will answer some of the most fundamental questions of the universe, and Native Hawaiians will also benefit from it, the ruling added.

Associate Justice Michael Wilson dissented but didn't immediately release his opinion.

A group of universities in California and Canada make up the telescope company, with partners from China, India and Japan.

There don't appear to be any other avenues for the opponents to pursue. But Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the main leaders against the telescope, encouraged other telescope foes not to be disheartened.

"The court is the last bastion in democracy," she said. "The only other option is to take to the streets. If we lose the integrity of the court, then you're losing normal law and order, and the only other option is people have to rise up."
When asked if that meant protests will resume, she said: "I'm encouraging people to stay close to their heart and aloha."
Gov. David Ige and other officials planned a news conference later in the day. Plans for the project date to 2009, when scientists selected Mauna Kea after a five-year, around-the-world campaign to find the ideal site for what telescope officials said "will likely revolutionize our understanding of the universe."
The judge set conditions that employees attend mandatory cultural and natural resources training and that employment opportunities be filled locally "to the greatest extent possible."