Breaking Mauna Kea News… “State Supreme Court rules TMT permit invalid; construction to remain on indefinite hold”

This is quite BIG news. Although I do not know the next possible steps, I have been told by a couple of informants that this means the TMT corporation would have to start the full permit process over. However, this article notes:

“The court ordered the matter be remanded to state Circuit Court “so that a contested case hearing can be conducted before the board or a new hearing officer, or for other proceedings consistent with this opinion.””

I’m not completely sure what this means, but for now, it looks like a major step forward in the opposition of the TMT on Mauna Kea. Here’s one more highlight from this article.

“In a concurring opinion, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Pollack wrote that “the board failed to conduct a contested case hearing before deciding the merits of UH’s application and summarily granted the requested permit without duly accounting for the constitutional rights and values implicated. The board acted in contravention of the protections of Native Hawaii customs and traditions.””

[Kp note: notice how the MSM channel always includes an image of the “built TMT”, and always points out the protectors put “rocks in the road”. No mention of “Kapu Aloha”. Oh well, it is MSM.]

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State Supreme Court rules TMT permit invalid; construction to remain on indefinite hold

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The state “put the cart before the horse” when it issued a permit for construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope before a contested case hearing on the issue was resolved, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The court ordered the matter be remanded to state Circuit Court “so that a contested case hearing can be conducted before the board or a new hearing officer, or for other proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Mauna Kea Hui filed the lawsuit in the case, alleging that the state had violated due process and failed to properly issue a permit for construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope.

The court agreed, saying that the BLNR “denied the appellants their due process right to be heard” when it voted on the permit before the contested case hearing was held.

The decision comes on the same day an emergency stay blocking construction crews from working on the Thirty Meter Telescope site was set to expire.

The two-week injunction was issued by justices the day before crews planned to return to Mauna Kea’s summit to begin repair and maintenance on equipment, which has sat idle for months.

The State Supreme Court issued the temporary halt to the $1.4 billion telescope project, while they continued to consider the legal challenge over the validity of the TMT’s permits.

Work has been stalled since April amid protests, the largest of which was in June — when more than 750 people gathered to block TMT crews from reaching their construction site on the summit.

Rocks and boulders were pulled onto the road to prevent access and eventually, TMT officials called the effort off and turned their crews around citing concerns for their safety. Protesters, who call themselves Protectors, say they’re standing in protection of the mountain as a sacred Native Hawaiian place.

A TMT spokesperson confirms construction, which was originally scheduled to start in April 2015 and take eight years to complete, would have meant the telescope would be operational by 2024.

In its ruling Wednesday, the state Supreme Court noted that BLNR voted to approve TMT’s permit in 2011, subject to several conditions, including that a contested case hearing be held.

In a concurring opinion, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Pollack wrote that “the board failed to conduct a contested case hearing before deciding the merits of UH’s application and summarily granted the requested permit without duly accounting for the constitutional rights and values implicated. The board acted in contravention of the protections of Native Hawaii customs and traditions.”

STATE SUPREME COURT RULING:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/292003518/TMT-ruling
Alternate link to PDF