Monday, February 18, 2008

EARTH FIRST! TAKES ON FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT


The South Florida Sun Sentinel is now reporting that Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies have arrested 27 demonstrators (as opposed to the one mentioned in the article below) this afternoon who were protesting against a power plant they say will harm the Everglades and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

One protester was charged with disorderly conduct for defying deputies' orders for him to remove a mask, sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. Deputies also charged 20 other men and six women with unlawful assembly and trespassing after they were warned to leave the entrance to Palm Beach Aggregates off State Road 80 near 20-mile Bend.

One person was treated for heat exhaustion, Barbera said.

The environmental protesters, answering a call from Earth First!, who oppose the new Florida Power and Light (FPL) power plants near 20-Mile Bend, stopped traffic at the plant entrance, leaving dozens of dump trucks idling by the side of the road and snarling traffic on Southern Boulevard west of Wellington.

FPL's opponents say emissions from the new plant will worsen global warming and will threaten the health of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just across Southern Boulevard.

A recent article in the national Earth First! journal called for activists to "put their bodies on the line," with the headline: "Shut Down Florida Power and Light."

"We've tried circulating petitions," said Panagioti Tsolkas, a Lake Worth activist organizing the events, saying he hopes to see "a stronger grass-roots campaign" against the plant. "We've tried talking to politicians. We've tried legal challenges. ... I'd rather be standing in front of a bulldozer."

FYI - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff last month proposed a $208,000 fine against Florida Power & Light Co., for security violations at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant.

The following is from WPTV (Florida).

Protesters block FPL in western Palm Beach County

Sheriff's deputies got involved after protesters blocked the entrance to a Palm Beach County power plant and jammed up traffic for at least a mile.

About 25 environmentalists gathered Monday at Palm Beach Aggregates, a rock mining company that sold the site to Florida Power and Light.

The protesters banged drums and held hand-pained signs urging while another 60 people cheered them on from behind barricades. FPL says the plant would be the cleanest in the state and one of the cleanest of its kind in the nation.

Authorities have made one arrest so far. Protesters say the person was wearing a mask on public property, which is illegal.

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