The Hawai’i Supreme Court has invalidated a Conservation District Use Permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
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Construction near the summit of Mauna Kea has been suspended since April amid protests from those who consider Mauna Kea sacred.
TMT International Observatory An artist’s rendering of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
“Quite simply, the board put the cart before the horse when it issued the permit before the request for a contested case hearing was resolved and the hearing was held, ” Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald said in the ruling.
In its ruling Wednesday, the state Supreme Court noted that BLNR voted to approve TMT’s permit in 2011, subject to several conditions, including that a contested case hearing be held. Scientists say the location is ideal for the telescope, which could allow them to see into the earliest years of the universe.
What was to become one of the world’s largest and most advanced telescopes may not be built at all.
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The two-week injunction was issued by justices the day before crews planned to return to Mauna Kea’s summit to begin fix and maintenance on equipment, which has sat idle for months. If you recall, the various universities and institutions from the US, Canada, China, India and Japan that make up the team had to wait for over a decade and overcome numerous hurdles before construction began in 2014.
