TMT deserves fair chance to meet deadline

Any developer with plans to build in Hawaii faces a daunting review by government. When the site is state-owned conservation land, especially a place as sensitive as the summit of Mauna Kea, the hurdles are set even higher.

Nobody knows that better than the parties invested in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a group which last week signaled that the clock for the breakthrough scientific enterprise is ticking — fast — and declared its need for a crucial land-use permit by September 2017 if it is to stay in Hawaii.

In fairness to TMT, which had followed the state’s instructions at every juncture, the state owes the project optimal efficiency, supplying the staffing and resources needed to do the work in a timely manner.

On Wednesday, TMT executive director Ed Stone met with the Star-Advertiser editorial board and news staff and said it needs clear assurances that it could get its new permit by September 2017, to allow TMT time to secure the financing to start construction the following spring. Otherwise, the TMT International Observatory Board has decided, it will have to go elsewhere to build. And, Stone said, the search for a “Plan B” starts now.

It’s hard to begrudge that decision, given that $170 million already has been invested in getting ready to build.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources is still awaiting guidance from Circuit Court, due in the coming days, on what process would pass muster. Clearly, attempting to shortcut the renewed process would draw another legal challenge and would serve nobody’s interest.

The controversial TMT had been poised for construction, but work was blocked last spring by fervent opposition, primarily based on Native Hawaiian cultural objections. Then it was struck down altogether when the Hawaii Supreme Court rescinded the permit the University of Hawaii, managers of the summit area, had sought on behalf of the $1.4 billion project.

This was a permit issued after a five-year pursuit, said Stone. The court concluded that the state land board broke with its own protocols by issuing the permit conditionally before holding a contested-case hearing. The proper procedure, the court said, would have been to hold off on any permitting decision until after the lengthy, quasi-judicial hearing process.

Stone said the September 2017 deadline is reasonable, judging by other project reviews. If that’s so, then the land board has a duty to perform well. It’s no overstatement to say the review process was bungled, and now’s the time to demonstrate competence.

The agency could reject the application following a fair and thorough process.

However, if the land board approves it, but so late that the applicant’s option to build has expired, that is tantamount to a denial. If the project merits a permit — and the Star-Advertiser maintains that it does — late delivery is simply unacceptable.

“In science, timing is very important,” Stone said. “Having a new instrument is very important to being at the forefront of research. And we feel we’ve got to move. We’ve got to move on.”

The project would be a boon to the state’s economy, and to Hawaii’s stature as a scientific center. The construction period would extend over eight to 10 years, generating an estimated 300 local and specialized construction jobs.

TMT leaders project that upon its completion the observatory would employ about 140 long-term workers, generating some $26 million annually in observatory operations.

The project already has initiated community benefits that Hawaii should not want to lose. In 2014, TMT kicked off its Hawaii Island New Knowledge Fund to help Big Island students with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) mastery. And it’s been working through the island’s government and educational institutions to strengthen STEM skills, especially for low-income and first-generation college students.

Mauna Kea is a location cherished for environmental and cultural reasons, and those resources must be managed carefully. It is a delicate balance for the state to maintain, but the benefits — scientific, educational, economic — are certainly worth the effort.

The summit of Hawaii’s mountain is still the scientists’ preferred site for this telescope, because of its position on the globe, its clear view of the stars, its accessible location in the U.S.

Now is the time for state leadership to show that Hawaii can deliver on its potential. Government must step up its performance and give this project a fair shot.