Thirty Meter Telescope on hold until boulders are cleared

Photo Gallery: Activists block TMT

MAUNA KEA >> The construction relaunch of the Thirty Meter Telescope got off to a rocky start Wednesday, thanks to some antics by protesters — 12 of whom got arrested — and now the $1.4 billion project is on hold again.

A caravan of construction vehicles, making its way up the mountain against the resistance of at least a couple of hundred people, was forced to turn around after protesters covered the earthen roadway with rocks and boulders for a lengthy stretch starting at the 10,000-foot level.

In addition, three low-lying rock walls were built on the road leading to the summit, creating an obstacle course for vehicles.

As a result, the office of Gov. David Ige closed the road and put the construction project on hold while the boulders are removed.

“Because of this, we are making an assessment to determine how to proceed,” the governor’s chief of staff, Mike McCartney, said in a statement.

Dan Meisenzahl, spokesman for the University of Hawaii, which runs the Office of Mauna Kea Management, said the road is in bad shape following Wednesday’s protest. It will be graded and reopened again sometime Thursday, he said.

Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT International Observatory Board, issued a statement saying the project will be restarted as soon as the problem is resolved.

“We want to thank the state and county police officers for protecting the safety of our team and the protesters and extend our gratitude to them, as well as to all of our supporters in Hawaii,” he said. “We want to acknowledge and reach out to those who disagree with our project. We respect their views and, looking toward the future, we hope we can work together to find common ground.”

In the morning, Hawaii County police arrested one person for obstructing the access road near the Mauna Kea visitors center, while state Department of Land and Natural Resources officers arrested 11 on the road above. Those arrested were taken to the Hilo police station for processing.

Despite the arrests, those who resisted the TMT were jubilant. But they also said they aren’t letting their guard down.

“We’re still up against a $1.4 billion monster,” said Kamahana Kealoha of Protect Sacred Mauna. “If they didn’t know we were a formidable force before, they sure do now.”

“This is only the beginning,” added Keouakupuapaikalaninui Ma‘ele, a longtime Hawaiian activist. “Tomorrow, when this goes over the air, we will get twice as many people.”

The TMT project had been on hold since the last time protesters clashed with police — on April 2, when 31 protesters were arrested for trying to block crews from reaching the summit.

The protesters, who regard Mauna Kea as a sacred place, and who call themselves protectors of the mountain, blocked the road leading to the summit from the Mauna Kea Visitors Information Station at the 9,200-foot elevation, as construction workers in Goodfellow Brothers Inc. vehicles drove up in the company of police.

One of those on the front lines was former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Moanikeala Akaka, who was one of those arrested April 2.

Akaka said she returned to the mountain in the spirit of peace and aloha.

“We really have no other choice. DLNR was irresponsible,” she said, referring to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “The university was irresponsible. It’s up to the people now. It’s up to us to protect this aina for future generations.”

Wednesday’s protest created lines of demonstrators that crossed the road at various points up to the summit, forcing police, who were using an abundance of caution, to continually explain themselves to new groups of people.

Sign- and flag-carrying demonstrators also walked slowly in front of the vehicles, and some were assigned as “legal observers,” armed with pen and notebook, to take down the details of any arrests.

“If we are effective, they never get to us at the top,” Protect Mauna Kea leader Kahookahi Kanuha told the group in the early morning darkness before crews showed up.

The construction caravan arrived at about 7 a.m. and then crawled up the mountainside. The first arrest came at 8:39 a.m., and other arrests were made as the procession moved up the mountain.

The caravan came to an abrupt stop at about 12:30 p.m. at about the 10,000-foot level, where rocks and boulders appeared randomly spread across the road.

Several protesters said they didn’t know who put the rocks on the road. One person blamed it on the menehune.

Asked about the rocks while he was in custody in a police van, Kanuha said: “They were told not to do that, but I can’t control everyone.”

Among those arrested Wednesday were Kaleikoa Ka‘eo, a UH Maui College Hawaiian language instructor, and Andre Perez, a Hawaiian activist and teaching assistant at UH-Manoa who was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Political Prisoner.”

“We have a human right to control our land. This is not American land,” Perez said as police took him away.

A number of state law-enforcement officers, some Native Hawaiian, appeared sympathetic with the protesters even as they made arrests. Emotions ran high.

When state conservation division Branch Chief Lino Kamakau and state DLNR First Deputy Kekoa Kaluhiwa announced that the caravan would turn around, they were moved to tears.

“Thank you for your respect this morning,” Kaluhiwa said. “We had the difficult task of being here today in the interest of public safety. I ask that if any hewa (guilt) has been put on any of these (officers) today, please let it go.”

Billy Freitas, a protester from Kona, was elated by the events.

“Brothers and sisters, you did good today. I’m proud of you,” he told the group.

Patrick Nakahara Sr. of Hilo was carrying an upside-down Hawaiian flag, a symbol of a nation in distress. He said it was a good day.

“Solidarity. Unity. It was everyone standing as one for the protection of a sacred place,” he said.

Protesters have maintained an outpost near the visitor center, which is about 8 miles away from the construction site, since late May.

The nonprofit Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC will build and operate the telescope. Its partners include India, China, Canada, Japan and the Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory Corp., formed by the University of California and Cal-Tech.

Partners would receive a share of observing time, along with UH scientists. The TMT Observatory Corp. has committed to paying a lease that will rise up to more than $1 million a year by 2024. Eighty percent of the lease money will go to the Office of Mauna Kea Management to safeguard the mountain and its cultural treasures, while 20 percent will go to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.