Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope say they will continue to pursue court actions to stop the $1.4 billion project and protest its construction following the disruption of its groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday on Mauna Kea. ADVERTISING Opponents of the Thirty
Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope say they will continue to pursue court actions to stop the $1.4 billion project and protest its construction following the disruption of its groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday on Mauna Kea.
The protest appeared to be the first of its kind on the mountain.
More than 50 protesters, mostly Native Hawaiians, blocked the Mauna Kea Access Road near the summit as dozens of dignitaries and other attendees from five countries attempted to reach the groundbreaking site. Some attendees chose to walk the rest of the way while others did not get through.
While a dramatic stand for a mountain many of the protesters consider sacred, the roadblock was not planned, according to Lanakila Mangauil, 28, of Honokaa.
Mangauil, who was dressed in kapa clothing during the protest, also said demonstrators weren’t planning on disrupting the ceremony itself, though they intended to make themselves visible.
A recording of the groundbreaking showed him berating attendees for walking past the protest, saying they “slithered in like slimy snakes.” He also called them infidels.
Sandra Dawson, TMT spokeswoman, told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday the event was disrupted before speeches could be delivered.
The incident was in contrast to a Native Hawaiian prayer ceremony conducted by TMT opponents that morning. Those who gathered there were urged to act respectfully.
“We’re not here to stop anything,” Kalani Flores told the group of about 200 people. “We are here to gather in aloha.”
Dawson said the incident didn’t deter those present from pursuing the project, which would create one of the world’s most powerful telescopes.
Mangauil acknowledged emotions were running high.
“I really did apologize for my emotions when I first got in there,” he said.
“We were trying to talk and share my point of view with everyone there.”
More protesters also joined him there and essentially took over the site, Mangauil said.
“The dialogue could have been done better,” he said.
Doug Simons, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope executive director, was at the groundbreaking and said organizers did the right thing by allowing Mangauil to have his say and avoid arrests.
“The alternative would have been the TMT groundbreaking would be remembered by people being handcuffed and hauled from the mountain,” he said. “That doesn’t help anybody.”
Simons also said attendees weren’t deterred from pursuing the project.
“It’s part of the process of this kind of development on a mountain everyone recognizes is a sacred site,” he said.
Mangauil said the blockade occurred after authorities kept protesters from reaching the ceremony site at the 13,150-foot elevation.
Mauna Kea rangers and a special duty Hawaii County police officer were restricting access to the road after it forked to the left toward the site of the groundbreaking near the summit, he said. The road to the right of the fork, where most of the observatories are located, remained open.
Stephanie Nagata, Office of Mauna Kea Management director, said Tuesday there were no road closures. She couldn’t be reached for additional comment Wednesday.
While the ceremony was invitation-only, Mangauil said protesters felt the restriction on the road was illegal and expressed their opposition by creating their own blockade below the fork.
“That’s when we ended up sitting there,” he said. “We just parked right there.”
Why stop others from reaching the site?
“They told us they were restricting access to us for space and vehicle parking … we were here first,” Mangauil said.
“If they opened the road we will go in and all go in.”
He said protesters were also upset a groundbreaking ceremony was occurring while the most recent legal appeals against the project haven’t been heard.
That includes appeals filed separately by four people regarding the project’s sublease in 3rd Circuit Court and an appeal of TMT’s conservation district use permit to state Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Petitioners previously challenged the permit in a contested case hearing and an appeal in 3rd Circuit Court.
The legal challenges have so far not been successful. No hearings on the other appeals have been scheduled.
TMT officials, who say they have met all the legal and regulatory requirements through a lengthy review process, have stated they have the authority to proceed.
Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the petitioners and appellants, said additional questions still need to be answered before construction can begin. She said TMT opponents haven’t given up on the courts yet.
“The court needs to rule on the questions of law,” she said. “We can’t be lawless.”
The sublease appellants seek a contested case hearing on that document as well.
Pisciotta also said the roadblock was not planned.
“I’m just so thankful all those that were there chose the path of aloha and not the path of violence,” she said.
One of the appeals, filed by Flores, argues the sublease violates Native Hawaiian customary and traditional rights and that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources needed to conduct an “independent ka paakai analysis,” among other issues.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources rejected the contested case hearing requests in part because there is no rule requiring one for a sublease and those making the request had no property interests in the site. Cultural interests don’t qualify as property interests for the purpose of due process, the board said.
Mangauil said he expects to see protesters take “another stand,” though he couldn’t say if the same tactics would be used.
Either way, they will have months to decide what to do next. Construction isn’t expected to begin until spring.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune- herald.com.
