HILO » Protesters who say the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope doesn’t belong on Mauna Kea blocked access to the summit for more than an hour Tuesday, disrupting groundbreaking for one of the world’s largest optical observatories.
"This is a sacred Hawaiian mountain. Why not put it on Mount Fuji or in one of your countries? Aloha!" yelled Moanikeala Akaka, a former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee and Native Hawaiian advocate.
She was joined by other Native Hawaiians, cultural practitioners and environmentalists who referred to themselves as the Mauna Kea Ohana.
Tuesday’s groundbreaking came after years of wrangling and protests to stop the project — an observatory like no other that will allow scientists to see further back in time than ever before. The telescope will be the 11th on Mauna Kea.
Members of the TMT International Observatory, which consists of the U.S., China, Japan, Canada and India, had traveled a long way for the day’s ceremony but were blocked after protesters refused to budge from the road to the summit.
The groundbreaking was being shown via webcast because of limited access to the construction site, which is at an elevation of 14,000 feet with arctic conditions.
Stephanie Nagata, director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management, said several dozen protesters standing and sitting on the road prevented the caravan of vans from reaching the summit, but some passengers were able to walk the rest of the way to the ceremony.
The webcast later showed protesters yelling during attempts to start the blessing.
More than a dozen cars blocked the road to the summit while police stood by to make sure the situation did not get out of hand. No one was arrested. An attempt to quell the protest by Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi proved unsuccessful.
"The mountain is sacred; she is sacred to all of us. She is our mother and she protects her children, and we have to protect her," said protester Daryl Ke, 19.
Earlier in the day cultural practitioner Kalani Flores led a spiritual ceremony at the bottom of the mountain encouraging dozens of attendees to "stay in aloha" and hold their ground.
"This isn’t just about kanaka maolis (indigenous Hawaiians). You don’t have to be a kanaka. This is about being human and doing what is right," he said.
Flores is one of six people appealing a Circuit Court decision in favor of the project. He and other spiritual leaders did not ascend the mountain to protest.
Meanwhile, TMT supporters who have spent several years working to see the telescope on Hawaii island appeared nothing less than agitated and said the project will bring much-needed economic resources and educational support to the island and will provide an opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime discoveries for astronomy.
"As an astronomer the most exciting aspect of TMT is its potential to discover things that we know little about like black holes, dark energy," said Doug Simons, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, also on Mauna Kea. "TMT will offer a range of possibilities of things we can’t even imagine yet."
The telescope should help scientists see some 13 billion light-years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe. Mauna Kea is the ideal location for observing the most distant and difficult-to-understand mysteries of the universe, astronomers said.
Its primary mirror, made up of 492 smaller mirrors, will be 100 feet, or 30 meters, in diameter.
Simons said he’s lived on Hawaii island for 30 years, and contends that TMT has done its due diligence to bridge the gap between astronomy and the Hawaiian community, including helping to instigate a Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan that allows for a limited amount of observatories atop Mauna Kea and outlines guidelines that aim to protect the environment and the cultural aspects of the mountain.
"The majority of the Big Island feels the same way we do," he said. "But what we have is two groups of people with different visions for the summit. One is grounded in the past, and one is grounded in the future."
However, it’s the past that the Mauna Kea Ohana say they can’t forget.
"We’re here today to say there’s been enough desecration on the mountain. Enough," said Kalikolehua Kanaele, a member of the Hawaiian Repatriation Council.
The telescope is expected to start operations in 2021 about 1.5 miles northwest of eight optical/infrared observatories already atop Mauna Kea.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
