Protestors met by police, arrested for trespassing at Bow coal plant

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About 200 protestors descended on Merrimack Station in Bow in an effort to shut down the coal plant. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings, frameofmindphoto.com.

BOW, NH — Two groups came together in Bow to protest a coal plant and 67 people were arrested for trespassing.

The groups met and rallied together peacefully and then in a coordinated plan they walked up railroad tracks to one of the entrances of the plant where they were met with “No Trespassing” signs, and a large police presence.
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A heavy police presence met protestors along the railroad tracks. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings

“There’s a coalition of a lot of different organizations that are here today to shut down this power plant,” said Sam Tardiff of 350 NH Action/NH Youth Movement. “The time has come. It’s 2019. We shouldn’t be burning coal anymore.”

Merrimack Station is owned by Granite Shore Power, which released the following statement:

“We respect and support the right of any person to express his or her views. Unfortunately, today’s protest and trespassing was more about making a scene and breaking the law than about conveying an informed point of view.”

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Police arrested protestors for trespassing in Bow on Saturday. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings

The protestors were verbally warned by Bow Police and the protestors as one large group crossed the barriers and were arrested one after another. Approx 45 minutes after the initial arrests a second smaller group came and again they were arrested.

All those arrested were brought to Merrimack County Jail.
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Police arrest protestors at the Bow coal plant on Sept. 28. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings

An affiliated website, nocoalnogas.org, urged those interested in the cause to sign a pledge to resist burning of coal.

They issued the following statement, which included a call to action to protest the proposed Granite Bridge pipeline, a project which would be installed within close proximity Lake Massabesic, Manchester’s main water source :

“Continuing to burn coal and build fracked gas infrastructure in NH is immoral. That our political leaders stand idly by in the midst of this climate emergency is unconscionable. We must act ourselves.

“Sitting by the river in the town of Bow, New Hampshire, the Merrimack Generating Station is the last large coal plant in New England without a shut-down date. On September 28th we will gather in Bow, take massive nonviolent direct action to shut down this plant.

“September is just the beginning. If we are going to avoid catastrophic climate crisis, we need a bold and boisterous movement to end business as usual. After we shut down Bow, we will end our addiction to fracked gas, and ensure the Granite Bridge pipeline is never built.”

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!