Planning for Thirty Meter Telescope protest conflict begins

State and county law enforcement officials have started planning for how they aim to allow construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea without protester interference.

State Attorney General Clare Connors told state lawmakers Thursday that her office in the past few days has been meeting with officials from the Hawaii County Police Department, state Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement and state Sheriff Division in anticipation of the start of construction.

Appearing at a TMT update briefing for three state Senate committees, Connors said the state is committed to ensuring the safe passage of construction crews while at the same time upholding the constitutional rights of anyone opposing the project.

“We just want to ensure that we don’t have a Standing Rock situation on Mauna Kea,” said Sen. Kaiali‘i “Kai” Kahele (D, Hilo), referring to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests that saw hundreds of arrests and injures in 2016.

“Mauna Kea is a high-altitude environment and you could easily get hurt, and that’s the last thing we want to reflect on the state of Hawaii,” Kahele said.

In 2015 hundreds of protesters blocked TMT work crews from reaching the telescope construction site on at least two occasions before the state Supreme Court invalidated the project’s building permits on procedural grounds.

Following a new contested case hearing and court appeals, the high court in October finally gave the project the green light.

But exactly when construction will start remains unclear. No one representing TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO) was present at Thursday’s briefing — a fact that didn’t sit well with at least a couple of the senators.

“They had more than enough notice to be here,” said Kurt Favella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point).

The standing-room-only briefing included project updates from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawaii and state attorney general’s office representing the Department of Public Safety.

TIO was the only no-show among the organizations asked to attend.

Contacted afterward, TIO spokesman Scott Ishikawa said some of the questions asked in advance of the briefing were already answered during recent contested case and Supreme Court hearings. In addition, TIO sent the senators written answers to three questions in a letter.

As for why TMT officials didn’t attend Thursday’s meeting, Ishikawa said in a statement, “Its leadership is currently focused on fulfilling the conditions of the Conservation District Use Permit.”

There are nine general conditions and 43 special conditions in the permit.

The briefing covered a range of topics, including the condition that requires TIO to eventually remove its telescope if necessary. In its letter, TIO estimated it would take at least $17.1 million to take down the giant observatory, and it would pay for it by setting aside $1 million a year.

Asked about TIO’s progress for meeting the permit requirements, Stephanie Nagata, director of UH’s Office of Mauna Kea Management, said, “I don’t have a timeline, but I know they are working very hard in getting those to us.”

Meanwhile, Connors said she is coordinating the state law enforcement effort in support of the TMT project, with Hawaii County taking the lead.

“We are working on that now, and we are meeting,” she said.

Connors said officials are not only planning for the safe access of construction workers, but are looking at designated areas for peaceful protest. She said their concern is for the health, safety and welfare of the general public, and they don’t want a repeat of 2015.

Connors also said she’s hoping to tap into the $2.5 million requested in this year’s budget for state security operations. It’s the same request made last year by former state Attorney General Doug Chin.

While many view the budget request as specifically targeting Mauna Kea, Connors told the lawmakers that “it’s not just for TMT, but law enforcement activities statewide.”

Toward the end of the meeting, a member of the audience stood up and asked Kahele to press Connors on what specific preparations are being made to quell civil disobedience, but he declined to ask the question and she didn’t volunteer anything.