HILO >> A dispute over six small "outrigger" telescopes to be set next to the two giant Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea will be extended into April because of uncertainty about a management plan for them. Dispute delays
Mauna Kea planAt issue are six small telescopes
on tap for the Keck observatory
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comThat ruling was made yesterday by attorney Michael Gibson, the hearing officer in a court-like contested case hearing on the outriggers.
While the outriggers are small, housed in domes just 35 feet high beside the 111-foot-high Keck domes, the application for a permit to build them has heated up because the outcome will likely affected future applications.
"It sets a precedent for all the rest of the telescopes that want to come," said Debbie Ward of the Sierra Club, one of the parties opposing the present outrigger plan. Proponents are trying to "get away with sliding in this and sliding in that," she said.
"We're not people that hate telescopes or hate astronomy, but fairness needs to prevail, and this is not fair," Ward said.
The $50 million project would be built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy is the applicant on NASA's behalf. The final decision on a permit will be made by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, based on an eventual set of recommendations by Gibson.
On Monday, after on-and-off hearings since Feb. 10, Gibson discovered that a management plan for the outriggers was one of the issues.
University attorney Lisa Munger said the plan is contained in a document called "Management Plan Requirements" attached to the permit application.
The document mostly makes references to other plans from 1983, 1985, 1995 and 2000, leading opponents to say there is no management plan.
"It's like giving us an index to the Bible and saying, 'You should know it by now,'" said opponent Hank Fergerstrom.
Opponents said a decision should be based on the overall picture at the summit.
"They need to plan for the summit, not just one telescope at a time," Ward said.
Gibson disagreed with such a broad view.
"That's not what's before me to decide," he said.
But he agreed that inclusion of testimony on the Management Plan Requirements will broaden testimony. That hearing will be April 3.
W.M. Keck Observatory
UH Institute for Astronomy
Dept. of Land & Natural Resources
