TMT says it’s not responsible to reimburse law enforcement

State officials say it’s too early to estimate how much it could cost law enforcement agencies to provide protection and help pave the way for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope as protesters attempt to block the project.

Efforts to begin construction on the telescope, which has been estimated to cost $1.4 billion, began Monday and have been met with protesters blocking the road that leads up to the planned construction site atop Mauna Kea.

“From our perspective, we are keeping very close track of all the different expenses that are related to this project,” Attorney General Clare Connors said Tuesday during a news conference. “But in truth, the amount of money that gets expended is going to be responsive to the type of activity that occurs on the mountain.”

However, Connors’ office said that it wasn’t possible to provide accurate costs to date because they were in the middle of the operation, and state officials didn’t respond to questions about daily cost estimates.

TMT International Observatory, which is overseeing the telescope’s construction and future operations, has hired private security services to provide security for its property, personnel and equipment, said Scott Ishikawa, who is assisting the organization with communications.

Ishikawa said there are no plans for TIO to reimburse the state or county for their law enforcement efforts.

A “private security service cannot enforce laws related to use of public roads and access,” Ishikawa said by email. “TIO has the legal right to gain safe and timely access to its site on Maunakea. As a member of the Hawaii community, we rely on appropriate law enforcement like other citizens of the state or county. The level of state and the county law enforcement efforts are determined as they see fit to uphold the law.”

Krishna Jayaram, special assistant to the attorney general, said by email that the state is “committed to ensuring that lawfully permitted construction proceeds.”

“We have proactively planned for and are responding to a situation where people’s safety is in jeopardy and a lawfully permitted project’s security is at risk,” said Jayaram.

Gov. David Ige said Tuesday that in addition to local police, the state is relying on assistance from the National Guard; the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, known as DOCARE, which is a division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and the Department of Public Safety.

Law enforcement sources told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in recent days that police officers from Oahu and Maui would assist state law enforcement officers and Hawaii County police and that riot training had been conducted on Hawaii island in recent weeks. They said helmets and long batons had been issued to officers expected to be deployed to the protests and that Hawaii County police had gone so far as to mount tear gas “cannons” on heavy vehicles used by its special response team.

Protests could go on for a long time. Construction of the telescope is expected to last about a decade.