HILO >> Hearings officer Riki May Amano told participants in the contested case hearing for the Thirty Meter Telescope on Friday that she will not consider any challenges to the validity of the state of Hawaii during what are expected to be lengthy proceedings over the controversial project.
Protests last year in connection with the $1.4 billion TMT project proved to be a magnet for Hawaiian sovereignty advocates, including some who contend the state government was created illegally and the Hawaiian kingdom still exists.
Amano dismissed at least two motions Friday that claimed she or the state lacks authority to deal with TMT issues, or the state itself is not a valid government entity.
“The issue of the status of the state of Hawaii will not be an issue in this contested hearing,” Amano told an audience of about 100 participants and listeners at the Hilo hearing.
That pronouncement prompted a cry of “Hewa!” — Hawaiian for “wrong” or “mistake” — from a member of the audience.
Amano, a former Hawaii island circuit judge, also told the audience she won’t consider any new challenges to her ability to be impartial in the TMT case because that issue was decided by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources in an order issued June 3.
“If you wish to vacate that order, I’m not the one who can or should do it,” Amano said during the four-hour pre-conference hearing at the Island of Hawaii YMCA in Hilo.
Opponents of the TMT project had called for Amano’s dismissal, citing her membership in the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center as evidence she might be biased in the case. ‘Imiloa is one of Hilo’s most popular museums and is part of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, which is the applicant for the TMT project.
UH Hilo and the TMT International Observatory Board also asked that Amano be removed, saying her selection as hearings officer could lead to problems on appeal.
However, the Land Board in its June order rejected the idea that there might be an appearance of unfairness, and said Amano is entitled to “a presumption of honesty and integrity.”
Opponents of the TMT project are also arguing that the application for the project was incorrectly submitted and should be done over, and have filed a motion asking that the state attorney general’s office be disqualified from providing legal advice to Amano because state attorneys have advocated in support of the permit.
Amano deferred both of those issues until the next pre-conference hearing Friday. Amano also announced she is considering a site visit to Mauna Kea on Sept. 26.
The TMT as proposed for the summit of Mauna Kea would be one of the largest telescopes in the world, and is designed to see more than 13 billion light-years away. The project’s member nations include the United States, India, China, Japan and Canada.
Some Native Hawaiians believe the mountain is sacred, and the start of construction triggered protests that blocked work crews and stalled the project in April 2015.
TMT opponents also went to court to overturn a permit issued by the state Land Board for the project, and the state Supreme Court ruled in December that the Land Board had violated the state Constitution when it approved a conservation district use permit for TMT in 2011 before holding a contested case hearing.
The court invalidated the permit, which prompted the new contested case hearing with Amano as the hearings officer.
