HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0383.048 2018-2020 Murashige, Laura
From: Meredith Buck <mbucknova@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday,July 24, 2019 8:23 AM tlij ! ZQ d =`3n05
To: Council Testimony
Subject: TMT Moratorium
Aloha,
I am writing to express my support for Councilwoman Maile David's resolution in support of Senator Kahele's
request for a 60-day construction moratorium relating to the TMT project.
My reasons for this are as follows:
1. The Hawaiian people have stood and are willing to risk their lives to keep this project off the mauna. The only way
TMT will proceed with construction is by tearing apart the community of Hawaii, not just locally but statewide. I'm
not convinced that's what those involved with TMT want.
2. Mauna Kea is a site for spiritual practice. The founders and leaders of the Kia'i movement still worship Poli'ahu and
her sisters and relatives as well as the rest of the Hawaiian Pantheon, and Mauna Kea is a critical site for practicing
this spirituality. Though Kia'i have continuously permitted telescope, utility, and even state vehicles to access the
mauna,they have not been granted one single car per day to access the mauna for cultural and spiritual purposes.
3. The district that is Mauna Kea is called Ka'ohe. Ohe meaning bamboo, and bamboo being a traditional way to
carry water, Ka'ohe as a district is like the holding tank for all the island's water. The contaminants involved in
constructing and maintaining a telescope will undoubtedly affect the water supply for all in regrettable yet
irrevocable ways.
4. Mauna Kea is a conservation district which has never been developed in the proposed area in all of history.
That can't be undone. No amount of restoration will return the 'aina to its original state.
5. There are currently non-functioning telescopes on Mauna Kea as I write this. Those need to be thoroughly
decommissioned and the areas they occupy remediated.
6. There is a 7 story building code limit, yet TMT is supposed to be 18 stories high. This is a discrepancy that cannot
be reconciled.
7. The activities which have taking place on the mauna in the last week as well as the last six decades have been
traumatizing to the community, In particular the Hawaiian people. From the arrest of elders,to police officers having
to put their family members in zip-ties,there is no way forward until this trauma is not only ceased, but addressed,
owned up to, and healed.
8. TMT has stated they would not reimburse the state for the application of law enforcement. Hawaii residents are
paying for that,while we are the ones standing on the mauna asking for this project to move to the Canary Islands.
There is also an expectation that Hawaii residents will pay for the remainder of TMT's cost when the project runs out
of money. We didn't want the rail and we don't want TMT. Please don't make us pay for something that literally kills
our communities.
Comm. No.
Ref. To:
1 Ref. Dote JUL 3 1 2019
9.Astronomy is one of the smallest economic sectors for Hawaii at less thank $200m, compared with Agricultur at
$400m, Arts and Entertainment at almost $700m, and educational services at $800m.It is not worth attempting to
grow a small sector like that when there is so much force against it. I would rather see the
There has to be a place to draw the line, and the people have drawn it. In 2017 TMT project manager Gary Sanders
stated, "If we kept on encountering obstacles to placing it on Hawaii, we would be very happy to build it in the
Canaries. With the TMT on La Palma, we could do marvelous astronomy." Further, the TMT La Palma website reads,
"All of the alternative sites considered were excellent for carrying out the core science of the TMT and the
interactions with potential host countries and organizations were uniformly positive." (tmtlapalma.org)
Please consider this the ultimate, and recurring, obstacle to the TMT. Until Governor Ige can recognize the needs of
his community and act in accordance with our request to move the TMT project to the Canary Islands, Ijoin the
request for a construction moratorium .
Mahalo nui loa for your time.
Meredith Buck, 26
Kailua Kona, HI
2