Three protesters were arrested on charges of trespassing after they blocked the entrance to Footprint Power in Bridgewater on Wednesday. The three were protesting the company’s plan to build a natural gas plant in Salem, Massachusetts.
(Photo: Photo courtesy of Just and Stable Future)
by Mike Deak / Daily Record
Three protesters were arrested Wednesday after blockading the entrance of a township company that wants to build a natural gas plant in Massachusetts.
The protesters, members of Students for a Just and Stable Future, chained their feet together and “Superglued” their hands together in front of the doors to Footprint Power, said Allison Rigney, a spokesperson the group.
The three protestors, who all live in Massachusetts, were arrested by Bridgewater police and charged with trespassing.
They were later released on their own recognizance, Rigney said.
The three started the sit-down protest about noon and were arrested less than an hour later.
Footprint, whose headquarters is on the third floor of an office building in the Centerpointe at Bridgewater, 1140 Route 22, is a new company whose first project is the conversion of a the coal- and oil-fired Salem Harbor Generating Facility into a state-of-the-art combined-cycle natural gas power plant.
Though local political leaders in Massachusetts have applauded Footprint’s proposal, environmental groups have opposed the project.
“Natural gas is no better than coal as an energy source,” Rigney said. “Both fossil fuels cause irreparable harm to human health and natural gas production adds more methane to the environment. Methane is a ‘mega’ greenhouse gas, up to 100 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.”
Students for a Just and Stable Future has 15 chapters throughout New England, according to Rigney.
Arrested were Ben Trolio, Martin Hamilton and Julie Salvatoriello, Rigney said.
Footprint officials did not respond to a request for comment.
