Conflict of interest alleged over advice on telescope permit

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources is scheduled to consider today whether to throw out a hearings officer’s recommendation to approve the last major permit for a proposed $300 million observatory for a solar telescope on Maui.

In a Land Board finding announced Monday, Chairman William Aila Jr. said it was determined that hearings officer Steven Jacobson had unauthorized communications with the chief proponent of the project, the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.

Aila said the communications throw into question Jacob­son’s impartiality.

Jacobson said he acted impartially in the review of the proposed solar telescope and had no conflict of interest.

The proposed Advance Technology Solar Telescope on Mount Hale­akala, funded through the National Science Foundation, would house the world’s largest optical solar telescope. It would be able to study changes in the sun’s magnetic energy, including disruptions in satellite communications.

In his written report to the board on March 12, Jacob­son said that after weighing arguments, a conservation district use permit should be issued for the project.

He recommended denying a petition by the Native Hawaiian group Kila­kila o Hale­akala for a contested case hearing to oppose the project. Under the Land Board’s procedures, the group lacks standing, he said.

In a March 15 email, Jacob­son asked Institute for Astronomy officials whether they had any part in the offices of the governor and U.S. Sen. Daniel Ino­uye bringing "inappropriate" pressure on him, which he said caused him to file an incomplete interim report.

Jacobson, in a written response Tuesday to Monday’s finding, said he was pressured to "spit out a recommended decision quickly" but that he was not asked to recommend a particular result.

Inouye spokesman Peter Boylan said Ino­uye supports "robust debate" on projects of this magnitude but that there must be a fair and reasonable timeline to conclude the process.

Inouye hopes the construction will begin in the not-too-distant future, Boylan said.

Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the state attorney general, said allegations made by Jacob­son are being looked into, but declined comment because the proposed project has pending litigation.

The proposed site for the solar observatory, selected from 72 sites worldwide, is on less than an acre at the 18.1-acre Hale­akala High Altitude Observatory, where several observatories already operate, including the Air Force Maui Space Surveillance System.

But opponents argue the proposed telescope building, about 143 feet at the top, and 50 feet taller than the tallest building on Mount Hale­akala, is too high in an area sacred to Native Hawaiians.

"It is far bigger than anything up there," said David Frankel, attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which is representing Kila­kila.

Frankel said the building is also close to Hale­akala National Park and that at least two former park superintendents have opposed the project.

In Hawaiian religion the demigod Maui climbed up Hale­akala to lasso the sun and force it to travel slowly to warm the world.

Kilakila filed for a contested case hearing challenging the board’s approval of the permit on Dec. 1, 2010.

Supporters of the telescope say they’ve secured a number of permits that have taken several years, including state and federal environmental impact statement studies and a state habitat conservation plan.