Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The Mauna Kea TMT case is headed to the Hawaii Supreme Court

by Salman Hameed

The issue of TMT has now moved on to the state supreme court (for previous posts on the issue, see here). I don't know what the time frame is, but this could drag on for a while especially if you include the appeals process as well. In any case, here is the current status (you can watch a video of the local newscast here):
The Hawaii Supreme Court on Friday granted the Mauna Kea Hui's application to transfer their case from the Intermediate Court of Appeals.
The Hui, made up of individuals and groups on Hawaii island, applauded the decision.
"Obviously the court feels that this is a case of fundamental public importance, and we're very encouraged by their ruling today," said Mauna Kea Hui attorney Richard Wurdeman.
The Hui will try to convince the justices that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources was wrong to grant a conservation district use permit to the University of Hawaii-Hilo for construction of the TMT.
"In this case, a huge, 18-story, eight-acre monstrosity on top of Mauna Kea is certainly, we would submit, not be consistent with conservation district use," said Wurdeman.
Hawaii's supreme court has a history of upholding the state's environmental laws, including shoreline protections and water rights. It also hasn't shied away from controversy.
Read the full article here.

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