Trials Continue Stemming from Arrests at North Anna Nuclear Power Plant
Three of the six protesters arrested at the Dominion Resources North Anna
Nuclear Power Plant will go on trial on Sept 23 in the Louisa County
Courthouse. The defendants are charged with trespassing after conducting
an alternative tour and sit-in on August 7th. They plan to plead not
guilty by defense of necessity. Protestors will gather in front of the
courthouse at 10am for a vigil to “put Dominion on trial”. Trial begins at
11am.
“What is a greater harm here? That Dominions nuclear information center
was inconvenienced and had to close 30 minutes late or that an untested
new nuclear reactor will overheat Lake Anna when it is already getting
to over 100 degrees most summers?” asks Paxus Calta, one of those arrested
and a member of the People’s Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE) a group of
concerned Louisa and Albemarle County residents who want real
renewables and efficiency solutions instead of the proposed new reactor.
“Dominion wants to build a dangerous new reactor when it has no place to
put the waste for the current two. These plants are already a toxic
nightmare and we don’t need anymore in this area,” Says defendant Sue
Frankel-Streit. “Dominion and the State are failing to address the
problems of climate change and of nuclear toxins. We need a different way
to make decisions about energy, because the solutions being proposed
are failing to serve the people.”
Three other protestors from this action pled guilty last month and were
fined $1,250, given a ninety day suspended sentence, two years of
probation and a stay-away order from Dominion. Prosecutor Tom Garrett
justified the harsh sentence (he had requested $2500 fines), saying the
protestors should pay for overtime served by police monitoring a five-day
climate change convergence held in Louisa from Aug.5-10th. The defendants
have filed an appeal.
The planned new reactor at Lake Anna is one of the first of many
nationwide being touted as a solution to global climate change. The
protestors maintain that nuclear power is a false solution to the climate
change problem with costs and dangers that far outweigh any benefits. They
cite enormous costs requiring massive government subsidies to construct
the plant, dangers to the community caused by the lack of any viable plan
to safely transport and store the toxic nuclear waste and project that
construction of the plant could take ten years or more. The Louisa County
protest is part of a series of international events calling for safe and
renewable energy solutions.
For more information about the events visit www.climateconvergence.org
For more information about the local campaign contact Paxus Calta, one of
the defendants, 541-505-0803.
