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As the developer of the Thirty Meter Telescope works to fulfill the requirements of its permit for construction atop Mauna Kea, it also is drawing closer to gaining final approvals for its backup site in the Canary Islands.
TMT officials said they expect a permit allowing construction at the backup site on the island of La Palma to be granted shortly despite new reports of a delay.
According to a media report in the Canary Islands, the permit was delayed a couple of weeks at the request of the Spanish government while technical modifications are made to the construction agreement.
The mayor of Puntagorda, the municipality in control of the project site, is quoted by online newspaper El Diario’s La Palma Ahora as saying the modifications are about form rather than content and will not substantially alter the agreement.
Puntagorda already has approved the changes, while the island government is expected to do the same before the end of the month, according to reports.
Mayor Vicente Rodriguez told El Diario he’s optimistic the TMT will find its way to the Spanish island. He estimated that construction on La Palma could begin as soon as April.
When and if the permit is issued, the TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO) will be required to pay a construction tax of more than $56,500, according to a previous online report.
The island’s government approved the project’s environmental impact statement in January, nearly three years after La Palma’s Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos was named the TMT’s alternative site.
TIO spokesman Scott Ishikawa said Hawaii island remains the preferred location for the TMT, and officials are now working to meet the nine general conditions and 43 special conditions in the project’s conservation district use permit.
No target date has been set for start of construction.
Uncertain at this point is what kind of obstacles await construction crews on the mountain. In 2015, protesters held an around-the-clock vigil on the road leading to the summit and blocked vehicles from reaching the construction site on at least three occasions.
TMT officials say they have been given assurances that crews will be able to access the construction site near the 13,796-foot summit, and Gov. David Ige has vowed to support the company’s lawful right to build its project.
State Attorney General Clare Connors told state lawmakers in January that her office had been meeting with officials from the Hawaii County Police Department, state Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement and state Sheriff Division to coordinate safe access when needed.
Connors said officials are not only planning for the safe access of construction workers but considering designating areas on Mauna Kea for peaceful protest.
Meanwhile, project opponents, having exhausted their legal options, continue to campaign against the TMT online and in demonstrations here and on the mainland. Leaders have been urging their followers to be ready for the day construction starts and be prepared to travel to the mountain.
Hawaiian activist Healani Sonoda-Pale urged the TMT developers to pursue their second option.
“If the Canary Islands want them, they should go there because they’re not wanted here,” she said. “There is too high a price to pay in terms of moral issues and financial issues and its effect on our resources and natural environment. It’s a structure that will only benefit a few people.”
Sonoda-Pale added the protests against the TMT’s construction atop Mauna Kea will have a profound effect on everyone in Hawaii.
TMT officials point out that polls have indicated a majority of Hawaii residents and Native Hawaiians support the project and will benefit from educational and economic opportunities.
While TMT officials work to fulfill the conditions and requirements of the Hawaii permit, the manufacturing of telescope components continues around the world, with “first light” now planned for 2028 — whether it is built in Hawaii or the Canary Islands.
Expected to produce images more than 12 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, the TMT will be one of the world’s most powerful telescopes. The project is a partnership between Caltech, Canada, China, India, Japan and the University of California.
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