As TMT hearing drags on, some look to high court to speed things up
HILO, BIG ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) - With hundreds of exhibits, numerous attorneys, and nearly 100 witnesses, there seems to be no end in sight to the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case hearing on the Big Island.
The "runaway" hearing is prompting calls for the Hawaii Supreme Court to step in. And some say it has the power to do so given a new law enacted earlier this year.
House Majority Leader Scott Saiki is worried that the project might be abandoned because of the slow process, and is calling on the state Supreme Court to appoint a master to ensure that the process goes more quickly and still meets the court's standards.
Officials with TMT have said they hope to complete the contested case hearing and get a new conservation district use permit by early 2017. But at its current pace, the contested case hearing may not be completed until late 2017. And TMT officials say that may put the entire project in jeopardy.
"The master would help take control of the proceedings by deciding things like the scope of testimony, the number of witnesses, time limits that may be imposed. basically decisions that would help to streamline the the procedure," Saiki said.
But opponents of TMT aren't so sure the state Supreme Court can step in.
Opponents of the observatory filed an appeal in November with the Hawaii Supreme Court, arguing the contested case hearing is a flawed process and they're being denied due process.
The court ended up dismissing the opposition's appeal on jurisdictional grounds.
And attorney Richard Wurdeman, who has represented opponents of the project, told Hawaii News Now that because the high court declined to accept jurisdiction "it would appear that the court would not have jurisdiction to appoint a master at this point."
Kealoha Pisciotta, of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, also opposes a master.
"No, it would not expedite the process. If a court master would be helping at all, it would have to start from the beginning, not in the middle," Pisciotta said.
But if the Supreme Court doesn't oversee the process and then throws out the permit like it did last year the parties could be back to square one again -- facing another contested case hearing without clear guidance.
"Especially in a case like this, the TMT case, there are multiple parties, multiple legal issues, there are a lot of witnesses, a lot of exhibits -- there needs to be someone in charge of this. Saiki argued.
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