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Greenpeace protest at local power plant
by Jeff Mann
Thursday, Jun. 24, 2004 at 4:25 AM
whirlwind37@gmail.com
Greenpeace protests Bush's clean air policy at local power plant
Six Greenpeace activists climbed a 700 smoke stack of the Hatfield’s ferry power plant on Wednesday to protest the Bush administrations policy towards clean air. Hatfield is a coal fired power plant located 50 miles south of Pittsburgh on the Greene/Fayette county line and is owned by Allegheny Power.
The activists scaled the smoke stack early Wednesday morning. Around 1pm they unveiled a 122 foot long banner with a skull and cross bones wearing a cowboy hat and saying “WARNING The Bush Energy Plan Kills CLEAN ENERGY NOW”. The activists remained there till 9:30pm when they began to climb down. They were arrested when they reached the bottom and were arraigned early Thursday morning. They face 7 charges which include burglary, criminal trespassing and rioting. The FBI is also investigating if they broke any federal homeland security laws as well.
On their website, Greenpeace claims that Hatfield is “the fifth worst sulfur dioxide polluter in the country and one of the nation’s greatest emitters of nitrogen oxide and mercury” according to 2000-2002 statistics. Greenpeace also states that Hatfield’s Ferry was under investigation for violations of the Clear Air Act by the Department of Justice. And that this investigation was dropped under the Bush Administration.
Greenpeace has posted press release of the event which can be seen here…
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/bin/view.fpl/8154/article/1190.html
Their informational webpage about Hatfield’s ferry can be seen here…..
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/index.fpl/10386.html?article=1189&cms_article=1189
Mainstream media links about the story can be seen here…..
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04176/336758.stm
http://www.wpxi.com/news/3451376/detail.html
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12076447&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
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by .
Thursday, Jun. 24, 2004 at 8:05 PM
GO GREEN PEACE!!!!
yay
by peppy
Saturday, Jun. 26, 2004 at 1:59 PM
now that is a banner drop!
wtf?
by huh?
Saturday, Jun. 26, 2004 at 9:29 PM
rioting? burglary? what the fuck is this shit? FBI homeland security laws? these guys aren't terrorists. Any update on th e legal proceedings would be much appreciated.
followup on the smokestack protest
by Jeff Mann
Wednesday, Jun. 30, 2004 at 2:18 PM
whirlwind37@gmail.com
From the Uniontown Herald Standard.........
According to a criminal complaint filed by FBI special agent Peter R. Stoneham, the six climbers were charged in U.S. District Court with criminal conspiracy, damaging or attempting to damage the property of an energy facility and causing or attempting to cause a significant interruption or impairment of a function of an energy facility.
According to the U.S. Federal Code, the six climbers could face 20 years' imprisonment and $100,000 in fines for the charge of damage or attempted damage of an energy facility and an additional five years for the criminal conspiracy charge.
The complaint also alleges the six climbers were sending live Web feeds to the Greenpeace Web site as the group sat perched above the Monongahela River.
In his affidavit, Stoneham indicated that Hatfield's Ferry plant manager Peter Kotsenas said the power station was in the process of a unit startup at the time of the breach and had to suspend some operations, including hauling fly ash, a byproduct of coal-burning power stations. Kotsenas said additional manpower was needed to search the plant, and security was increased around the plant's perimeter.
The six climbers were arraigned before District Justice Lou Dayich on state charges early Thursday, before authorities filed the federal charges.
On the state level, each was charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespass and riot and misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and failure to disperse upon official orders. Each also faces a summary citation for criminal mischief. All were arraigned and released on minimal bond.
In a criminal complaint, trooper Craig Yauch claimed the group cut a 2- by 3-foot hole in the cyclone fence off Route 21 that surrounds the plant. The six then rappelled "through heavy vegetation and a hillside at which time they traveled across the roadway" and into the facility, wrote Yauch. The six climbed the smokestack and then refused to leave when asked by state police.
"The suspects' actions caused public inconvenience and alarm and disrupted normal operation of the Hatfield's Ferry Power Station," wrote Yauch.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12092422&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
and here is Greenpeace's statement
by Jeff Mann
Wednesday, Jun. 30, 2004 at 2:21 PM
whirlwind37@gmail.com
Peaceful Protestors Charged With Felonies For Highlighting Bush's Dirty Energy Plan
After hanging a banner on one of the dirtiest coal plants in the country to protest the Bush Administration’s energy plan, six peaceful Greenpeace activists were charged with multiple state and federal felonies. The four women and two men scaled the 700-foot smoke stack at the Hatfield’s Ferry power plant, 50 miles south of Pittsburgh, and unfurled a 2,500 square foot banner that read, “The Bush Energy Plan Kills – Clean Energy Now!”
The climbers have been charged with four state misdemeanors, three state felonies and two federal felonies.
“Federal felonies charges against Greenpeace activists are completely unwarranted and should be immediately dismissed,” said Greenpeace Energy Campaigner Casey Harrell. ‘The real threat to Americans is the Bush energy plan, which kills over 23,000 people every year.”
The arrested climbers are: Jessica Miller and Renee Blanchard of Washington, D.C.; Josh Raisler Cohn of Portland, Oregon; Virginia Hunter of Los Angeles, California; Lynn Stone of Maine and John Watterberg of Brooklyn, New York.
The Bush administration has systematically weakened clean air laws by allowing power stations to install new equipment without adding pollution controls, and permitting coal-fired power plants to continue to release tons of mercury into the air and waterways. In addition to its negative impacts on health, dirty energy wreaks havoc on the environment, causing global warming, acid rain, and smog.
The Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in Masontown, Pennsylvania was under investigation by the Justice Department for violating the Clean Air Act – an investigation that was dropped by the Bush administration.
Greenpeace activists scaled the 700-ft coal plant smokestack at Hatfield's Ferry Power Station to denounce Bush's dirty power plan. A 2,500-square-foot banner reading "THE BUSH ENERGY PLAN KILLS – CLEAN ENERGY NOW!" was unfurled.
At the same time, one activist circled the smokestack with a powered parachute, flying with the message, "CLEAN ENERGY – CLEAN AIR" on its chute.
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/index.fpl/10386/article/1191.html
Want to Help out?
by Nisha
Thursday, Jul. 08, 2004 at 11:14 AM
nashi3@yahoo.com
Greenpeace will be holding an event at a local Pittsburgh beauty salon in regards to our Mercury Campaign. We will be chatting with customers about the determents of mercury, Bush's new Mercury emissions plan and then sending their hair samples off to be tested for mercury. Please contact me at nashi3@yahoo.com, if you can help out with planning and organizing!
bend over, Greenpeace
by Irving
Friday, Jul. 23, 2004 at 8:39 AM
State prosecutors charge Greenpeace
MISDEMEANORS: Ship didn't have paperwork or show it could clean up spill.
By MATT VOLZ
The Associated Press
(Published: July 23, 2004)
Alaska prosecutors Thursday filed criminal charges against Greenpeace,
saying the activist group broke environmental laws by not submitting oil
spill prevention documents before its ship entered state waters.
The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, with 27 activists aboard, is touring
Southeast Alaska to protest logging in the Tongass National Forest.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation cited the ship on
July 14 for not filing an oil spill response plan or having a
certificate of financial responsibility in case of a spill.
Greenpeace officials said it was a paperwork mishap that was quickly
corrected.
Department of Law spokesman Mark Morones said the misdemeanor charges
were filed Thursday after DEC completed an investigation.
"They had no plan to show they were capable of responding to (an oil
spill), they had no way to show they were financially responsible for
paying the cost," Morones said. "You'd think that they'd be out in front
of this."
State law requires a non-tank vessel larger than 400 gross tons to file
an oil spill response plan application five days before entering state
waters.
Prosecutors filed charges against Greenpeace, Arctic Sunrise Capt. Arne
Sorenson and the ship's agent, Willem Jan Beekman. The criminal
negligence charges carry a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a
$10,000 fine for an individual and $200,000 for an organization.
A Greenpeace spokeswoman said Thursday she did not know charges had been
filed. Carol Gregory said the matter was an oversight and the proper
forms were filed as soon as it was discovered.
"It was a clerical error about paperwork and not about environmental
protection," Gregory said. "We're Greenpeace. Of course we want to work
within all environmental laws."
DEC Commissioner Ernesta Ballard in a statement said there was no such
thing as a paperwork violation.
"Compliance is not a mere technicality. We require evidence of spill
response capability because we know that any ship can hit a rock at any
time," Ballard said in the statement.
The ship was ordered to anchor July 14 until the documents were filed.
The ship resumed its passage in violation of the order and was stopped
again, according to DEC.
The ship and the activists were in Angoon on Thursday, headed to Juneau.
"We're dealing with the issue but we're maintaining focus on the
forest," said spokeswoman Mary MacNutt from the Arctic Sunrise.
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