mk letter to governor 4-1-15

7/21/2019 Mk Letter to Governor 4-1-15

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The Honorable Governor David Y. Ige

Governor, State of Hawai’i

Executive Chambers

State Capitol

Honolulu, Hawai’i 96813

April 1, 2015

Aloha Pumehana Governor Ige,

We reach out to you in your capacity as the highest executive authority in Hawai’i. We

come to you with urgency in our hearts to ask for your help to protect the most revered place in

our beloved archipelago, our highest mountaintop and land of our Akua, which is Mauna Kea.

Specifically, we ask you to void the Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP HA-3568) and

TMT Sublease issued by the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) for the Thirty Meter

Telescope (TMT), an any related permits allowing construction to proceed. There are several

ongoing legal appeals regarding this project; one of the cases is now before the Intermediate

Court of Appeals (ICA). While the University recently requested a time extension to delay this

hearing, the TMT International Observatory LLC continues to move ahead with construction.

Two other appeals pertaining to the TMT Sublease are still pending in the Third Circuit Court.

Our request to you is urgent. In spite of our court appeals, culminating years of legal

effort on our part, bulldozers and other heavy equipment now assemble on the mountaintop to

begin construction of this massive, eighteen-story-high facility—in shameful disrespect for

Hawai’i’s legal process, host culture and all law-abiding citizens of Hawai’i. Is it any wonder

that Hawaiians and community members, out of respect for the legal process and in defense of

their oldest and deepest traditions—have gathered in protest on the mountain?

This is the second time we have sought your help; our previous letter was hand delivered

to your office on January 21 to convey to you a list of our concerns about BLNR’s pastviolations of the public trust and their failure to protect Mauna Kea in accordance with the law.

These are problems that you did not create, but for which you now have kuleana — and that you

can now make pono (righteous) through executive action.

Please see the attached list with the “Top Reasons for the Immediate Halting of TMT

Construction” and attached map of historic and cultural sites on Mauna Kea. We’re sorry that

you have inherited BLNR’s decades-long failure to follow the laws and regulations that protect

Mauna Kea, the legal rights of native Hawaiians and Hawai’i’s citizenry, but that also means that

you can finally set things right.

In Aloha we remain,

Kumu Hula Paul K. Neves

Clarence Ku Ching

Debbie J. Ward

The Flores-Case ‘Ohana

Jon Osorio (KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance)

Kealoha Pisciotta (Mauna Kea Anaina Hou)

Signed by the six Mauna Kea Hui Litigants and Supporters for the Protection of Mauna Kea



Top Reasons for the Immediate Halting of TMT ConstructionSubmitted to Governor David Ige April 1, 2015

• The TMT project cannot legally meet the eight criteria for construction (i.e. Land Use) in The Mauna Kea Conservation

District. There is no legal way to waive this requirement, nor any exception to it. Requirements include the following, amongst

others (Quoted from HAR §13-5-30, emphasis added):

• The proposed land use will not cause substantial adverse impact to existing natural resources within the surrounding

area, community or region;

•

The existing physical and environmental aspects of the land, such as natural beauty and open space characteristics,

will be preserved or improved upon,• The proposed land use will not be materially detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare.

Both the UH/TMT Corporation and BLNR admit the TMT project will cause adverse, significant and substantial impact to the

cultural and natural resources of Mauna Kea. Considering this, the TMT project is in clear violation of the law. The State of

Hawai!i is likewise in very serious violation, for allowing this illegal project to proceed.

• BLNR acted improperly in issuing both the CDUP and the Consent to Begin. BLNR was fully aware that the TMT cannot

meet the legal requirements of a Conservation District. BLNR thereby went directly against its own mandate of natural resource

protection in issuing the CDUP. Unfortunately, the only explanation possible for these actions by those mandated to protect the land

and natural resources is institutionalized corruption on the part of the previous administration. Unless these permits are revoked

immediately, the new administration will prove itself deeply corrupt as well. You are fully aware that there are pending lawsuits in

the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) challenging the TMT project. In a civil society the courts are the arbitrators of all

questions of law. Legal questions are not resolved, so the TMT Corporation should not be moving ahead. The BLNR was also

fully aware of these legal challenges when it issued the consent to begin without waiting for the court to rule. To highlight thisincredible wrongdoing, the University of Hawai!i just requested an extension of time in the ICA court – an attempt to stall the

court’s review of the case, just as TMT bulldozers were beginning to roll. The Governor must stop this wrongdoing now.

• The TMT is desecrating at a criminal level. The legal definition of desecration in Hawaii is that it will cause "outrage" in a

certain segment of the population (HRS 7-11-1107). Burials, monuments, and places of worship are all specifically named as

affording special protection from this crime, which warrants serious penalties, including imprisonment and substantial fines. No

legal exceptions exist. As you must know, Mauna Kea has literally hundreds of sacred sites, including over 34 burials, some

containing multiple bodies. Hawaii Loa, Lilinoe, and living people’s grandparents have all been laid to rest in undisclosed locations

within this area. Harm to Mauna Kea therefore succinctly meets the definition of criminal desecration. Clearly, the illegal

construction of an 18-story structure, complete with excavation of a sacred area and use of toxic chemicals in great quantity, violates

this statute. The State is currently complicit in this violation, by allowing construction to proceed.

• The University of Hawai’i is abusing its management authority. Earlier this week, we were informed that the University of

Hawai!i closed the Mauna Kea Summit Road due to “weather” considerations, purportedly for safety reasons, and then immediately

proceeded to facilitate the bringing in of heavy earth-moving equipment for TMT construction. This is only one example of such

abuse, which has spanned many, many incidents. UH is the primary violator of environmental and cultural statutes on Mauna Kea.

As such, it has absolutely no right to play an enforcement role of any kind. The State of Hawai!i, including the Governor’s office

and DLNR, are complicit in this abuse as long as you continue to allow UH to exercise management authority over these lands.

• DLNR is not enforcing the law, as it is required to do, but facilitating environmental violations instead. DLNR, not UH, has

the enforcement authority in a Conservation District. This authority cannot be transferred. Until such time as the greater issues

regarding the legality of the State itself are resolved, DLNR has the responsibility to stop violators, such as those currently operating

bulldozers in the Conservation District while court proceeds. It is no secret that destructive construction, and not environmental or

cultural protection, is the University’s primary objective on Mauna Kea. Therefore, DLNR’s shrugging off of enforcement duties to

those known violators is truly a criminal act. The Office of the Governor is part of this crime, unless this is stopped immediately.

• BLNR’s consent of the TMT Sublease was in violation of State and US constitutional and statutory provisions. These

violations of State and Federal laws have resulted in the State along with its agencies and agents not protecting the interests of the

public land trust, its beneficiaries, and the traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians. Instead, the business interests of the

Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC, a Delaware company based in California, have overridden the citizens’

interest in these public lands.

Many, many other reasons for an immediate halt to any construction on Mauna Kea exist as well. These have been repeated

numerous times, and it is this administration’s duty to understand them, and take action accordingly. More information can be found

at the following websites: http://goo.gl/fESxH8 (TMT info from kahea.org), and http://protectmaunakea.tumblr.com/ (online photo

march showing community support for protection of Mauna Kea). If further information is needed, please contact Kealoha Pisciotta

immediately. However, Mauna Kea cannot wait for information gathering at this point. You know what is needed. Please STOP

TMT CONSTRUCTION NOW.

mk letter to governor 4-1-15

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