The Conversation wanted to take a closer look at the recent removal of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory from Maunakea. Although it was the first to begin the decommissioning process, it technically wasn't the first to go down.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Hōkū Keʻa Observatory was removed a month earlier in May. Still, decommissioning the long-shuttered CSO was a significant milestone in the stewardship plan for the mountain.
We spoke with Gregory Chun and Nahua Guilloz from the UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship.
"This was the first time we at CMS have done a project this large for a while on the mountain, and so it was a learning experience for all of us. And, you know, a lot of what we learned was the importance and the degree of on-site, on-the-ground project coordination, because you had multiple contractors, multiple moving parts and whatnot," Chun said.
Guilloz said approximately 40% of the materials from the CSO were recycled.
"In a normal construction, some places, they just bring in a dozer, make a big pile and then take it to landfill. Cal actually took extra care in making sure to sort out all of the recyclable metals that could be recycled. There was a lot of recycling that went on in this project, and the things that couldn't be recycled actually went to landfill," Guilloz said, referring to the California Institute of Technology.
She said that, like all of the construction contracts on Maunakea, the CSO decommissioning project had an on-site cultural monitor.
"We just wanted to make sure that everything was very, very carefully considered, you know, and culture was very prominent and foremost in our minds to make sure we did a right job," Guilloz told HPR.
Caltech will monitor the site for the next three years to document the natural repopulation of plants and wildlife.
"There was a lot of collaboration in getting the site to be renaturalized to what you can see today. And it was challenging. It wasn't easy, but we had some great partners to work with," Guilloz said. "It's really hard to tell that there was anything there."
The CSO came online in 1987 and ceased operations in 2015.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 10, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
