GOTCHA! Along with jobs, funding and education, TMT brings more conflict over Mauna Kea (OHA prepare$ to take it$ cut)

(Notice how the opposition was played down until those fools in California took the bait?  Now .... )

The project is expected to create 140 permanent jobs as well as 300 construction jobs through several years.

It also comes with a $1 million-a-year community benefit package for community education programs during the life of the telescope.

(But how is OHA going to collect payoffs???  ...keep reading)

Before construction can begin, the telescope must receive a conservation district use permit from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

A lease for the site also has yet to be negotiated.

A draft environmental impact statement was published in May, but TMT must now turn in a final one.

(In other words, TMT's been reeled in, but hasn't been gutted and cleaned yet.  Getting their knives out for their OHA masters are ... )

KAHEA, a nonprofit, says the telescope would require leveling the last pristine plateau on the mountaintop.

In 2004 the group took legal action against UH and NASA over a permit for a Keck Outrigger Telescope that consequently was never built. As a result of that lawsuit, TMT must now finish a comprehensive management plan approved by the state Land Board for a permit.

The Sierra Club supports the telescope -- in Chile, not on Mauna Kea, said Big Island chapter spokesman Nelson Ho.

"Mauna Kea is just too badly managed by the university and by DLNR," said Ho. "It would double the amount of damage that's already up there."

From Mauna Kea selected for world's largest telescope:

Marti Townsend, program director for Kahea: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance, said opposition groups will go to court to stop the project if needed.

"This is a bad decision done in bad faith," Townsend said. 

"The people are stuck. What are we going to do? Sue or lose our rights," said Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, which participated in a 2007 legal challenge that helped derail plans for a $50 million addition to the W.M. Keck Observatory.

(Pisciotta has been demanding $50M a year in "rent" on behalf of her OHA masters.  See PDF of $50M demand letter and LINK with extensive details)

Ka Wai Ola OHA:  Mauna Kea telescope debate continues

XXX

RELATED:  Telescope: The Shakedown begins

July 21 , 2009  http://www.tmt.org/news/site-selection.htm 

PASADENA, Calif. — After careful evaluation and comparison between two outstanding candidate sites—Mauna Kea in Hawai‘i and Cerro Armazones in Chile—the board of directors of the TMT Observatory Corporation has selected Mauna Kea as the preferred site for the Thirty Meter Telescope. The TMT will be the most capable and advanced telescope ever constructed.

When completed in 2018, the TMT will enable astronomers to detect and study light from the earliest stars and galaxies, analyze the formation of planets around nearby stars, and test many of the fundamental laws of physics.

To achieve these outstanding results, the TMT will integrate the latest innovations in precision control, segmented mirror design, and adaptive optics to correct for the blurring effect of Earth’s atmosphere, enabling the TMT to study the Universe as clearly as if the telescope were in space. Building on the success of the twin Keck telescopes, the core technology of TMT will be a 30-meter primary mirror composed of 492 segments. This will give TMT nine times the collecting area of today’s largest optical telescopes.

To ensure that the site chosen for TMT would enable the telescope to achieve its full potential, a global satellite survey was conducted, from which five outstanding candidate sites were chosen for further ground-based studies of atmospheric stability, wind patterns, temperature variation, and other meteorological characteristics that would affect the performance of the telescope.

Based on these results and extensive studies, Mauna Kea and Cerro Armazones were selected in May 2008 for further evaluation and environmental, financial, and cultural impact studies. The TMT board used the results from these meticulous research campaigns to help guide the final site-selection process.

"It was clear from all the information we received that both sites were among the best in the world for astronomical research,” said Edward Stone, Caltech's Morrisroe Professor of Physics and vice chairman of the TMT board. “Each has superb observing conditions and would enable TMT to achieve its full potential of unlocking the mysteries of the Universe.”

“In the final analysis, the board selected Mauna Kea as the site for TMT. The atmospheric conditions, low average temperatures, and very low humidity will open an exciting new discovery space using adaptive optics and infrared observations. Working in concert with the partners’ existing facilities on Mauna Kea will further expand the opportunities for discoveries,” said Stone.

Henry Yang, TMT board chair and chancellor of the University of California at Santa Barbara, expressed excitement at this decision. "Our scientists and engineers have been designing and building the key components that will go into the telescope. By deciding to build on Mauna Kea, the TMT board has given a clear signal that we are ready to move forward and begin building in earnest as soon as all the necessary approvals are in place. I want to thank the Moore Foundation for its visionary support. I also want to thank our scientific colleagues and the coalition of community members, educators, businesses, unions, political leaders, and stakeholders in Hawai‘i who have brought us to the point of this site selection. The board expresses a strong commitment to respect the long history and cultural significance of Mauna Kea to the Hawaiian people, and has committed annual funding for local community benefits and education in Hawai‘i.”

Before construction can begin on Mauna Kea, the TMT must submit and have approved an application for a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) to the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources. This will be done through the community-based Office of Mauna Kea Management, which oversees the Mauna Kea summit as part of the University of Hawai'i at Hilo.

"We are very grateful for the support that TMT has received from both the people and governments of Hawai‘i and Chile during the site-selection process," said Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member. “We are excited about the prospect of being the first of the next generation of extremely large telescopes.”

The TMT project is an international partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and ACURA, an organization of Canadian universities. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) joined TMT as a Collaborating Institution in 2008.

“The selection of Hawai‘i as the site for the Thirty Meter Telescope will greatly strengthen international cooperation in astronomy. The synergy between TMT and the highly successful Subaru Telescope already on Mauna Kea will lead to many further research breakthroughs,” said Professor Masanori Iye, the Extremely Large Telescope Project Director of the NAOJ.

The TMT project has completed its $77 million design development phase with primary financial support of $50 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and $22 million from Canada. The project has now entered the early construction phase thanks to an additional $200 million pledge from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Caltech and the University of California have agreed to raise matching funds of $50 million to bring the construction total to $300 million, and the Canadian partners propose to supply the enclosure, the telescope structure, and the first light adaptive optics.

TMT gratefully acknowledges support for design and development from the following: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the National Science Foundation (USA).

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GOVERNOR LINGLE LAUDS HAWAI‘I SELECTION FOR THIRTY METER TELESCOPE AS ADVANCEMENT FOR HAWAI‘I’S INNOVATION ECONOMY

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today praised the decision by the board of directors of the TMT Observatory Corporation to select Mauna Kea as the preferred site for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

“Today’s decision to build the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea marks an extraordinary step forward in the state’s continuing efforts to establish Hawai‘i as a center for global innovation for the future. 

“As we work to address immediate fiscal and economic challenges facing the state, it is imperative that we also remain focused on investing in our long-term future and building the foundation for a diverse and robust economy. The TMT is another important advancement that will help us achieve long-term prosperity for Hawai‘i.

“Over the next eight years, the TMT will create employment opportunities for our residents, including hundreds of jobs in the construction and related industries, as well as an estimated 140 full-time employees once the project begins operations. 

“Having the most advanced telescope in the world on the slopes of Mauna Kea will enhance Hawai‘i’s high-technology sector, while providing our students with education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

“Securing the TMT would not have been possible without the collaboration of the entire community, which demonstrated an outpouring of support for this important project.  The community became engaged in the process, learning about the benefits of the TMT and asking tough questions to ensure that it would be the right fit for Hawai‘i – one that would help transform our economy toward innovation, while being sensitive to our state’s unique heritage, culture and environment.  From public meetings to grassroots rallies with ‘TMT Yes’ buttons and signs, the entire community – including businesses, labor unions, the University of Hawai‘i, schools, individual citizens, and state and county government – deserves to share in this milestone.”

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