At 7.30am this morning, activists successfully blockaded all entrances to Aberthaw Power Station in Barry, South Wales.
Press Release: For Immediate Release
3rd April 2008
Oxford Activists Hit Welsh Power Plant
This morning, eight activists from Oxford have successfully disrupted work at a coal-powered power station in Wales.
The group have helped blockade entrances to Aberthaw Power Station in Barry, Wales. This is to raise awareness of the devastating affect that Wales’s biggest polluter has on the planet. [1]
The group are acting in solidarity with current actions against the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Aberthaw power station is burning coal extracted from the controversial mine[2].
Deborah Locke, 30, who is one of the activists currently blocking the road said,
“Climate change is the biggest issue of our time, and we all have to power to take action to halt climate catastrophe. We are acting in solidarity with activists and locals in Merthyr where the mine is not only environmentally devastating, but is also dangerously close to where people are living.”
RWEnpower own Aberthaw power station, and also Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire. Didcot power station is at the heart of a debacle that might see local beauty spots Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes filled with pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from the plant.[3]
Andy, a student at Oxford University argued,
“Another reason why we have come here today is to highlight the link between big business and climate change. Scientists reckon that annually, around 400,000 deaths are directly linked due to inhaling soot. Also, coal has a devastating affect on the climate, around 150,000 die every year due to climate change. We just cannot go back to the coal age.”
The activists plan to blockade for as long as possible.
Ends
Notes to Editors
[1] Aberthaw Power station is a coal-powered station situated near the coast of Wales. According to Friends of the Earth Cmyru, in 2006 it produced seven million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. In 2007, it was deemed to be number one of the top ten biggest polluters in Wales (Lisa Jones, ‘Aberthaw is Wales’ biggest polluter’, South Wales Echo, 07/12/07)
[2] More about Ffos-y-Fran can be found at http://thecoalhole.org, contact the campaign’s media team 07775 654 500 / 07876 753 254
[3] The Save Radley lakes campaign argue, with scientific back-up, that the ash also contains poisonous heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and some uranium) For more information Radley Lakes campaign please see: http://www.saveradleylakes.org.uk
oxford autonomists[at]googlemail[dot]com
http://thecoalhole.org
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Members of bristol rising tide are succesfully blockading Aberthaw power station, Wales worst polluter, 10 bristol activists have done a joint action with Bath, Cardiff and Oxford activist as part of a nationwide prostest against some of the worst polluting compaines in the uk.
Today members of Bristol Rising Tide, a group of climate activists [1], are participating in an action that has stopped normal work at Wale’s biggest polluter, Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan. The power station, also condemned by workers for its poor safety record, last year pumped out more than 7.4million tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide), the major contributor to climate change. It also emitted 28,000 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide and 31,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide – two chemicals that contribute to acid rain.
This action comes after the successful closure by activists of Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil, on Tuesday 1st April. Ffos-y-Fran is the biggest mine in Europe and has been forced upon the people of Merthyr Tydfil in-order to fuel the dirtiest of all power stations and big business’s greed for profit.
As the world acknowledges the need for a substantial reduction in carbon emissions the government and the Welsh Assembly have given their backing for the mining company Miller-Argent to spend upwards of 17 years extracting 11 million tons of coal from the nearby Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil to continue feeding this power station.
As fossil fuels go coal is a serious contender for the dirtiest known. But despite the fact that coal-burning generators produce twice the carbon emissions of gas burners [2], the government intends to build £20 billion worth of new coal-burning generators by 2020.
Gordon James, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, described the power station as a “dirty dinosaur” that should not be allowed to stay open in its present form. But RWENPower, the generating company that runs Aberthaw, said, “It is true Aberthaw Power Station is a large emitter of CO2 and that there are other emissions involved in power generation.”
Bristol Rising Tide believes that it is crucial to highlight the concerns and issues surrounding the development of Aberthaw and the proposed new investments into Coal powered generators such as Kingsnorth power station in Kent. The site of the next Camp for Climate Action.
Ciara, a member of Bristol Rising Tide states: “The burning of coal at Aberthaw and the new power stations across the UK such as Kingsnorth will only exacerbate the problems of climate chaos. People need to know that the government is hell bent on returning us to the dark age of fossil fuel.”
bristol@risingtide.org.uk
http://risingtide.org.uk/bristol
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10:48am
There are still 11 activists in attendance at the plant — four locked on and seven in support. Although it is true that the workers have been sent home for the day.
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Oxford activists round up day of anti-coal action with visit to npower HQ
After successfully blockading Aberthaw power station in South Wales, a crack team of Oxford activists paid a visit to npower HQ.
Activists moved from their successful blockade of the back entrance to Aberthaw power station, owned by npower, which was part of a joint action with Bristol, Bath & Cardiff activists. Once workers had been instructed by management to take the day off, the activists moved to their next target. They occupied npower’s head office in Swindon, asking to talk to the CEO and unfurling their banner reading “Climate Change Starts Here” in solidarity with the activists remaining at Aberthaw.
Mischievous activist Jack Green said, “Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel in existence; carbon capture and storage is unproven and will be too little, too late. According to the World Health Organisation, climate change is already killing 150,000 people per year.”
The campaigners left peacefully and there were no arrests.
oxfordautonomists@googlemail.com
http://www.thecoalhole.org/
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Video from the locked on vehicles, of surveillance by state and by Miller-Argent, with a statement by exec director Steven Tillman.
Video not sure who this guy works for — video/quicktime 1.6M
Video weakest link? — video/quicktime 4.3M
Video statement — video/quicktime 35M