(ABOVE VIDEO) Special presentation detailing the long road to the TMT groundbreaking using file footage gathered by Big Island Video News from 2008 to today. Video by David Corrigan, Voice of Sherry Bracken.

MAUNA KEA, Hawaii – Today, the $1.4 billion dollar Thirty Meter Telescope will break ground near the summit of Mauna Kea.

The traditional blessing ceremony will be broadcast live over the internet. The webcast will begin at 11:15 a.m. on TMT.org/buildingTMT. Web viewing is being encouraged because officials say “access to the TMT construction site will be limited due to the area’s sensitive environment and harsh physical conditions.”

The idea that access to the summit may be restricted is not sitting well with some, mostly opponents of the TMT project. They say a restriction would violate the U.S. and State constitutional rights. Its the latest volley in a long running disagreement over astronomy on the mountain, usually with developers and academia on one side; environmentalists and Hawaiian practitioners on the other.

The debate is summarized today in a special feature on Big Island Video News: a chronicle of the TMT’s long long approval process… starting in 2008.