KIBBY TOWNSHIP — Four environmental activists, including one who chained herself by the neck to a tractor-trailer, were arrested Tuesday during a protest of the Kibby Mountain wind-power project, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
About 60 protesters tried to block an access road to the site of TransCanada’s wind farm, to prevent wind turbine parts from being delivered.
The demonstration followed a weeklong gathering of hundreds of environmental activists behind the Earth First! movement. It preceded a meeting of Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, which is scheduled to deliberate today on a proposal for 15 wind turbines on a ridge north of Sisk Mountain.
Protesters were arrested at the access road and about a mile away on Route 27, where one locked herself by the neck to a truck carrying a turbine blade, said Chief Deputy Raymond Meldrum.
They were charged with failure to disperse and held in the Franklin County Jail, where their bail was set at $500 each. They had not been released as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Sheriff’s deputies, state police and border patrol officers were stationed by the access road Tuesday. In the morning, they issued several trespass notices to protesters around the site of the wind-power project, which is on property owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. and leased by TransCanada, said state police Lt. Don Pomelow.
Nathan Brimmer of Greene, who received a no-trespass warning from police, said the officers on duty at the site represented “an absurd use of taxpayer dollars.”
Earth First! activists are known for their use of civil disobedience. The last time the group’s annual gathering, called the Round River Rendezvous, was held in Maine, six protesters were arrested in the backyard of the Blaine House in Augusta, where they had strewn oil and lobster shells to protest liquefied natural gas terminals.
The crux of the activists’ argument against the wind-power project is the number, size and location of the turbines on Kibby Mountain, said Logan Perkins of Eddington. Perkins said the activists believe the project will have a detrimental effect on mountain ecosystems, including lynx habitat.
“We’re here to say no to industrial wind,” Perkins said.
Leanne LeBlanc, a spokeswoman for TransCanada, said the activists did not prevent the turbine parts from reaching their destination.
“It took a little extra time, but everything was delivered on schedule,” she said.
Karen Pickett, who came from California to attend the Earth First! gathering, said she toured the site on Thursday.
“I’ve never seen anything on this scale, and that’s clearly the problem,” she said.
There are 22 wind turbines up and running on Kibby Mountain. The parts being shipped to the site Tuesday were for 22 more turbines that have been approved by the Land Use Regulation Commission.
Today, the commission will discuss the 15-turbine project proposed by TransCanada for adjacent Sisk Mountain.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people who made an appearance there,” Perkins said.
Catherine Carroll, LURC’s director, said the commissioners will consider the project’s effect on the area’s natural resources, including the plants, animals, soil and scenery. At the end of the meeting, she said, the commission will direct its staff to write up an official approval or denial of the proposal, but it won’t take a vote.
“I think the writing will be on the wall at the end of the day,” she said.
On Aug. 4, when the commissioners will vote on the project, they also are scheduled to discuss a request from TransCanada for a zone change to allow more turbines on the mountain, Carroll said.
Both meetings will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Spectacular Event Center in Bangor.
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