On January 2nd, the sixth blockade within a month of coal headed to New Hampshire unfolded in the woods of the town of Harvard, Massachusetts. As the Merrimack generating station is resupplied, activists continue to hinder the delivery of coal to New England’s last large coal power plant without a shutdown date.
Venturing south of Depot Street across a crust of white snow illuminated by the half-moon overhead, the nearly two dozen climate activists from five New England states carried sleeping bags and backpacks and a substantial amount of equipment. As they walked over a half mile south, the coal train was headed north from Worcester on its way to Ayer, Mass, its next stopover on the trek to Bow.
All that equipment was meant to take a new tack in the effort to halt shipments of coal to Bow and to close the Merrimack station. With the blockade the previous weekend lasting only a half hour in Worcester, it was clear that a new tactic was needed to keep the coal halted.
Activists began to assemble the pieces of equipment they carried with them, and above the tracks rose a 15 foot high painters scaffolding with three platforms at different levels. At 10:18pm a call was placed to the emergency dispatch number, and the train came to a stop at 10:50 two miles south of the blockade.
Once the train was stopped, the scaffolding was secured to the tracks and nearby trees, and four activists clambered up, bringing with them all they would need to stay there through the night and beyond. With song rising from the large group of supporters, Cody Pajic, Gia Neswald, Adam Rice and Tim DeChristopher took residence in their new abode, and unfurled a banner reading “Stop Fueling Climate Chaos” from the top of the structure.
Supporters headed back to the parking area, and were detained around 1AM as law enforcement began to arrive. Police made it to the blockade site by 1:30 and detained the last of the supporters who were on the ground. Supporters gathered in the parking area on Depot Road for the rest of the morning, singing, keeping warm, and awaiting news of their compatriots down the tracks.
The blockade lasted through hours of negotiation and conversations between the scaffold sitters and police, including Cody reading to the Harvard Chief about Brad Werner’s presentation titled “Is Earth F**ked?” to the American Geophysical Union in 2012 . Police wanted the activists to end their blockade, promising publicity and help in their cause. But those on the scaffold were resolute: they weren’t coming down until Granite Shore Power and ISO-New England, the region’s electrical grid operator, declare a shut-down date for Merrimack station. “We don’t need publicity, we need action.”
The blockade continued as rescue crews tried to figure out how to get them down. Police and fire rescue crews began removing the scaffold sitters by 5:30AM. All four were on the ground and arrested by 6:30AM, and booked at local state police barracks. Cody, Adam, Gia and Tim were arraigned in Clinton District Court on Friday, on charges of trespassing, walking on a railroad, and obstructing the passage of a train.
The blockade had lasted for over nine hours, and after dawn had broken, the train passed northwards at 8AM and supporters left the parking area.
