Police cut the chain from around actor James Cromwell’s neck before
arresting him for blocking the entrance
to the power plant construction site
WAWAYANDA – Six people were arrested by State Police for disorderly
conduct Friday morning when they blocked the construction entrance site
to the Competitive Power Ventures on Friday morning.
When completed, the facility will generate electricity through the use
of natural gas from Pennsylvania.
The protestors were arrested for blocking the entrance to the site by
way of interconnected bike locks around their necks. Margaret Shaw, Pramilla
Mullock and actor James Cromwell were among those taken into police custody,
along with several others who did not participate in the “chaining
up” demonstration.
Shaw said she was outraged by the prospect of the continued construction
of the plant and that it is dangerous to the community.
“I think that it is a horrible crime to inflict the dangers that
this plant represents to our community, to any community,” said Shaw.
“There’s going to be a separate ammonia tank, that’s huge, that if
God forbid something happens, we’re all dead. They’re going to be using
‘fracked’ gas in the pipelines, which contains radioactivity, which we
all know the number of accidents that the pipelines have afforded us and
it’s going right through our communities.”
Cromwell said the plant will “spew out poison.” Cromwell said
he supports all Americans and their children who are entitled to live
free from harmful industrial pollutants.
Mullock, who lives next to the plant’s compression station in Westtown,
said people are being forced out of their homes and claims that children,
pets and other animals are getting sick; also, in some cases, the animals
are dying due to effects from it.
“We are being locked out of our homes; we are being forced out of
four communities,” said Mullock. “I’m from Minisink, NY; we
have children getting sick, we have families that have walked away from
their homes already. This is not fair! This has to stop. This is incoherent.
This is irrational.”
Opponents of the project continue to challenge it in the courts even though
all local approvals have been granted.
