{"id":147612,"date":"2021-09-08T10:58:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T20:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=147612"},"modified":"2021-09-09T14:22:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T00:22:20","slug":"caltech-releases-dea-for-maunakea-telescope-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/09\/08\/caltech-releases-dea-for-maunakea-telescope-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Caltech releases draft environmental assessment for Maunakea telescope removal"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_71660\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71660\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/cso-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/cso-exterior.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/cso-exterior-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in cooperation with the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Department of Land and Natural Resources, has released its Draft Environmental Assessment and Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact (<abbr>DEA\/AFONSI<\/abbr>), which was prepared as part of the planning effort required prior to decommissioning the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (<abbr>CSO<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n<p>If the regulatory process is completed as currently anticipated, Caltech aims to begin removing the observatory and restoring the site by Summer 2022. It will be one of the first observatories removed under the 2010 Decommissioning Plan for Maunakea Observatories.<\/p>\n<p>The <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> was prepared by Caltech\u2019s consultant, Planning Solutions, Inc. (<abbr>PSI<\/abbr>). It addresses the potential environmental effects of the proposed decommissioning of the <abbr>CSO<\/abbr>. <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> law requires an environmental review, due to the use of State land and the need for a Conservation District Use Permit. A copy of the <abbr>DEA\/AFONSI<\/abbr> can be found here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/outreach\/outreach\">http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/outreach\/outreach<\/a><\/p>\n<p>These four options are considered in the <abbr>DEA<\/abbr>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Complete removal\/full restoration (Caltech\u2019s preferred alternative);<\/li>\n<li>No action (an alternative that is recommended to be evaluated);<\/li>\n<li>Complete removal\/moderate restoration; and<\/li>\n<li>Partial removal\/moderate restoration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The State Office of Environmental Quality Control is expected to announce the availability of the <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> on September 8, 2021 in The Environmental Notice. The <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> and information concerning a companion Conservation District Use Application will also be available online at <a href=\"http:\/\/oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov\">http:\/\/oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov<\/a>. Once published, the <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> will be subject to a 30-day public comment period. The deadline for comments on the <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> is October 8, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The public is invited to attend community meetings, which will be virtual due to continuing COVID-19 concerns. At the meetings, the proposed decommissioning will be described in detail and questions answered informally. Each meeting will present the same information; they are scheduled for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tuesday, September 28, at 11:30 a.m.;<\/li>\n<li>Wednesday, September 29, at 4:30 p.m.;<\/li>\n<li>Thursday, September 30, at 6:00 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the day of the meetings, a link to join will become live at: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/outreach\/outreach\">http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/outreach\/outreach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Caltech invites the public to give its feedback on the draft <abbr>EA<\/abbr>,&rdquo; said Caltech physics professor and <abbr>CSO<\/abbr> Director Sunil Golwala.<\/p>\n<p>Public comments can be submitted to <abbr>PSI<\/abbr> via email or in writing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Planning Solutions, Inc.<br \/>\nAttn: M\u0101kena White, <abbr>AICP<\/abbr><br \/>\n711 <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> Boulevard, Suite 950<br \/>\nHonolulu, <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> 96813<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:cso-decom@caltech.edu\">cso-decom@caltech.edu<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&ldquo;We will address the comments we receive on the Draft Environmental Assessment as quickly as possible, and hope that a Conservation District Use Permit is granted in early 2022, which would enable Caltech to begin the deconstruction and restoration in the summer of 2022,&rdquo; said Golwala.<\/p>\n<p><abbr>CSO<\/abbr> is one of the first observatories on the mountain to undertake the decommissioning process. The <abbr>CSO<\/abbr> was formerly one of the world\u2019s premier facilities for astronomical research and instrumentation development at submillimeter wavelengths.<\/p>\n<p>The <abbr>CSO<\/abbr>&#8216;s 10.4-meter radio telescope, which came online in 1987 for use in research by astronomers at Caltech and other institutions, was housed in a compact dome near the summit of Maunakea. The telescope was used by researchers, including more than 200 students, to open a new submillimeter window on the universe. A summary of <abbr>CSO<\/abbr>\u2019s contributions to astronomy and astronomical instrumentation are available here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/science\/overview\">http:\/\/www.cso.caltech.edu\/wiki\/cso\/science\/overview<\/a>. All the astronomical instruments were removed from the facility in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The public is encouraged to review the <abbr>DEA<\/abbr> and Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact and provide feedback by October 8, 2021. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193],"tags":[659,1421,14,947],"class_list":["post-147612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","tag-maunakea","tag-maunakea-observatories","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147612"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147705,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147612\/revisions\/147705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}