This week a coalition of activists led by Kealoha Pisciotta filed a legal challenge in the Third Circuit Court of Hawaii, seeking an injunction against the telescope construction. The bond, in the amount of the full cost of the project, would cover the cost of restoring the site to its natural state once the telescope has finished its mission. In December 2015, the state’s Supreme Court invalidated a previous construction permit on the grounds that the project’s opponents had been deprived of due process. The TMT astronomers said they would build their telescope in the Canary Islands if denied in Hawaii. Last October, the Hawaiian Supreme Court restored the telescope’s building permit.

Source: International New York Times July 10, 2019 20:15 UTC