Smokestack climbers sentenced
WAYNESBURG – Six activists who scaled one of the towering smokestacks at Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station last year will all spend time in prison after reaching a plea agreement with the Greene County district attorney Tuesday. Last June, police arrested Virginia Lee Hunter, 44, of Los Angeles; Joshua Raisler Cohn, 27, of Portland, Ore.; Lynn Dyan Stone, 39, of Sorrento, Me.; John Allen Watterberg, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Jessica Joyce Miller, 26, and Renee Claire Blanchard, 24, both of Washington, D.C., for climbing the 700-foot smokestack.
Tuesday, all six pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and a summary charge of criminal mischief.
Hunter, Stone, Watterberg, Miller and Blanchard will spend five days each in the Greene County Prison for their part in the demonstration as well as pay financial restitution of $94,577 to Allegheny Energy for fiscal burdens caused by the protest.
The sixth climber, Raisler Cohn, will serve 30 days in prison because of a previous conviction in a non-violent demonstration for which he served six months in federal prison.
Outside the courthouse, prior to the court appearance, about a dozen supporters carrying “I support the smokestack six,” gathered to support the climbers as they faced the charges stemming from the day-long protest in which the two men and four women unfurled a 2,500 square-foot banner denouncing the Bush administration’s energy plan.
In June of 2004, the six protestors climbed the tower at Allegheny Energy’s Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station in Monongahela Township, Greene County early in the morning and then unfurled the banner in an all-day protest that tied up emergency crews from both Fayette and Greene counties.
“I think that it is worth it to take a stand against environmental injustice,” Raisler Cohn said, as he hugged his mother, Jeanne Raisler, outside the courthouse before the proceedings. “I am sorry I have to go to prison, but I am more sorry for those who have to live in the shadow of this power plant.”
His mother said while she was sad to see her son convicted and sentenced, she was proud nonetheless.
“I think they did this act for a very good reason,” Raisler said after the conviction. “It is not a pleasant thing, but I think they got their point across and I am proud of him for having the courage of his convictions.”
All felony and federal charges against the six were dropped and Allegheny Energy dropped the charges of criminal trespassing.
As the sentences were handed down, Raisler Cohn tried to turn the courtroom into a grandstand, but was stopped by Greene County District Attorney Marjorie Fox and Greene County Judge Terry Grimes.
“I believe Hatfield’s Ferry Power Plant is much more guilty than I am,” Cohn said, and then offered to “forgive” Fox for pursuing the protestors and allowing the station to continue to pollute.
“I didn’t ask for your forgiveness,” Fox told Raisler Cohn as he was escorted from the proceedings.
Watterberg also offered a brief speech before being sentenced telling the court that his deceased father, who fought in the Gulf War, would be proud of his son’s actions, and said that “it takes a lot of courage,” to stand up for the right thing.
The five attorneys representing the activists all said they will appeal the restitution ruling, including Uniontown attorney Samuel Davis.
Fox said the restitution is due the Allegheny Energy for additional costs including inspecting the tower and grounds, hiring additional security and the lost production when one of the plants two turbines was not in use during the protest.
Following the sentencing, Davis said he was proud to represent Hunter in the case.
“I started practicing law in 1976 and I have never represented more of a true patriot than I did today,” Davis said.
Greenpeace Executive Director John Passancantando, who was on hand to view the proceedings, said he is dismayed that the protestors had to undergo the legal scrutiny they did, noting that the cause needs to play a role in the consequences.
“That plant kills hundreds every year, according to the Bush administration’s own annalists,” Passancantando said. “The charges were too excessive. This power plant is one of the dirtiest in the country.”
But Fox said she approached the case just like any other, by taking the law into account first.
“For all the energy and money they have expended on this, including the whole day up there, couldn’t they have put that toward better use?” Fox said. “I think the message was lost.”