Transcript
A spokesperson for what is called the Thirty Metre Telescope, or TMT, project says the granting of the permit is a step forward.
But Scott Ishikawa says it's not the final say.
"Both sides of the TMT issue were allowed to participate in a series of contested case hearings, late last year to early this year around about five and a half months. And from there the hearings officer made a recommendation, she felt that a permit should be issued to allow construction and the State Land Board voted on that in late September and they agreed that a permit should be issued."
The head of the non-government organisation Mauna Kea Anaina Hou is Kealoha Pisiotta.
She is one of twenty plaintiffs trying to stop the installation of the telescope.
"We are in the process of preparing our notice of appeal and to begin the legal process. The process we just came out of is a quasi legal process. The Hawaii law basically says that if the Board rules against you, you have a right to take their decisions into a court of law and that's where we are going now."
She says her group's main aims are to protect their unique culture and environment.
According to her, TMT threatens these.
"Just because you want to build it doesn't mean you should build it. Because Mauna Kea is a very sacred place. They have plants and animals that aren't found anywhere else on earth. And because it is over seven of our aquifers. And if it's built it's going to challenge that."
Scott Ishikawa says they are taking a "wait and see" approach on the project's implementation.
"There are no immediate plans to resume construction to resume construction at this point and I think we are just going to go back and try to figure out our next steps. And part of that obviously is any kind of legal challenges that may come up including the appeal to the Hawaii State Supreme Court."
He says they have a time frame and a back-up plan.
"Thirty Metre Telescope officials have always said that they were going to build the telescope in April 2018 either in Hawaii or in the alternate site of Canary Islands. That plan still stands but you know obviously TMT is rather pleased with how it's been going with the process in Hawaii and they're going to continue that route."
Mr Ishikawa says the project will benefit Hawaiians if it goes ahead.
"Economic wise I think it's about 300 construction jobs to build the telescope. And it will be about 150 jobs, long term jobs once the telescope is built to staff the observatory. This will also supplement the already existing astronomy industry that's in place on Hawaii Island. There's about 13 observatories on the Big Island as part of our local astronomy industries."
The University of Hawaii holds the lease for the summit of the volcano.
Its spokesperson is David Meisenzahl.
"The University of Hawaii is absolutely supportive of the project, and has been and that support is unwavering. With that said though we understand that there are a lot of concerns with I think the use of Mauna Kea and the fact that many Hawaiians consider it sacred and quite frankly it's sacred to scientists as well. It is the premier location for astronomy on the planet Earth."
Mr Meisenzahl says the installation of the telescope will support the pursuit of knowledge and better understanding of the universe.
But he admits controversy over the project has been significant.
"An institution for higher education is a place where there should be discourse, there should be debate, there should be disagreement because we're better for it. And hopefully that will be the case in this instance as well. And so it has been difficult. You know there are a lot of people who work together on a lot of different issues that are on the opposite side on this particular issue. And that's life. "
Kealoha Pisiotta says it was native science that helped people circumnavigate the globe millenia ago, and to discover Hawaii and other Pacific Islands.
The idea of discovery for the sake of discovery is good but when you start challenging water and then you start challenging the ability of people to continue practices that have existed for thousands of years, we have to redefine progress.
She says she hopes her group will gain Supreme Court backing and halt the project.
This is Jenny Meyer.
