Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 12, 1 December 2003 — NASA will do impact study on Mauna Kea [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NASA will do impact study on Mauna Kea

Decision follows ruling that earlier study was inadequate

By Sterling Kini Wong In a press conference held at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Nov. 4, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that it will prepare a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, for its proposed Outrigger Telescope Project atop the summit of Mauna Kea. The EIS will be the first federal study to thoroughly assess the cultural and environmental impacts of observatory development on the summit, whieh has been used as an astronomy site since the late 1960s and now houses more telescopes than any other single location on earth — some 13

observatories operated by 1 1 different countries. Several Hawaiian and environmental groups have objected to expanded observatory development on the 13,796-foot summit, whieh is classified as a state conservation area, claiming it as sacred cultural ground and home to unique endangered species. NASA's decision to prepare the EIS stems from U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway's ruling in a lawsuit filed by OHA, whieh, in part, challenged NASA's earlier, less rigorous Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Outrigger Telescope Project. The project is slated to involve the construction of four to six 1.8-meter telescopes to work in tandem with the W.M. Keek

Observatory's two existing 10meter scopes, the largest in the world. On July 15, Mollway ruled that NASA's EA was flawed because it failed to adequately assess the cumulative impacts of the proposed development. In her decision, however, Mollway only directed NASA to complete a revised EA and did not specifically require the agency to conduct the more eomprehensive EIS. According to a press release, NASA officials decided to voluntarily prepare the EIS "in recognition of the concerns and feelings expressed by members and representatives of the Native Hawaiian community." In addition, Carl Pilcher, NASA's program scientist

for the project, said that the agency was acting proactively to prevent the possibility that Mollway might eventually require a complete EIS if she did not find the results of a revised EA satisfactory. Ken Kumor, NASA's federal preservation officer, said that NASA will conduct a formal scoping process, whieh will include puhlie hearings, to ensure that the concerns of the community are addressed in the EIS. The puhlie meetings will be held through December and January on O'ahu and Hawai'i island. Kumor said there will also be further eommunity input meetings after a draft of the See NASA on page 15

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Pu'u Poli'ahu overlooks the twin domes of the Keek telescopes (on the left) and the Subaru telescope structure (on the right). The proposed 4-6 outrigger telescopes would surround the existing Keek scopes, the largest in the world.

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NASA from page 5 EIS is completed in May or June. He said the final EIS, whieh could cost more than a million dollars, is expected to be finished in fall 2004. OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona said she is encouraged by NASA's announcement. "We weleome NASA's commitment to this process as a positive step and see this as a demonstration of good faith by NASA in building trust and in fulfilling its obligations as steward of this sacred site," Apoliona said. The $50 million Outrigger Telescope Project, part of NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins program, is intended to make use of a technique called interferometry, in whieh images from a network of telescopes are combined to help astronomers search for planets around nearby

stars. The proposed outrigger telescopes would be housed in 30-foot-diameter domes surrounding the Keek Observatory's two existing 121-foot-diameter structures. Although NASA would build the telescopes, the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy (IFA) would serve as administrator of the site, and as such must apply for a permit from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to further develop the summit. The University's application to the board is currently involved in a contested-case hearing that is separate from OHA's suit against NASA. Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, an organization opposed to the development of the mountain, said she hopes the IFA will withdraw its permit application until NASA's EIS is completed. She said that the IFA's

application relies on the previous Environmental Assessment that Judge Mollway found inadequate. Pisciotta said some Native Hawaiians regard the mountain as a religious temple that is a home to deities, an ancient burial site and the source of sacred healing waters. She said she is concerned with the impact the facilities atop Mauna Kea have on the environment, including the disposal of 48,000 of gallons of sewage a month into the summit, whieh sits on an aquifer system. Pisciotta said that she is encouraged that NASA will conduct an EIS. She added, however, that "experience tells us we can't relax, we have to be vigilant." For infonnation on the EIS puhlie hearings, contact Lanee Foster at 594-1 888. ■