July 26, 2011
Denmark

Six arrested in Østerild Klitplantage

Steen Færgemand, 26th July 2011 dr.dk

(Google translation – click on source in credit for Danish original)

At approximately 05:20 Tuesday morning police pulled into Østerild Klitplantage with the strength of 50 men. The police made sure that logging machines could come in to clear for the next test center for giant wind turbines.

Foto: DR © DR

At first, the police succeeded in ensuring that the work could get started. But later a couple of activists managed to put themselves in front of the logging machinery, and work stalled for a period.

The two activists were, according to the police, arrested, not simply detained. And they have since been joined by at least another four activists, so that a total of six were arrested.

Foto: Henrik Louis (http://www.nordjyske.dk/artikel/10/5/144/3917635/3/politiet%20sl%E5r%20lejr%20i%20%F8sterild)

Activist sitting up in a tree

Some activists still hold sway. One of them is Amos Spenner [or Stenner], who, after police moved into the activists’ camp at half past five, ran into the woods where he clambered up one of the trees to be felled.

Amos Spenner sits so far safe from the police. A policeman tried earlier to get him down, but failed.

The Nature Agency has started to fell the trees around the tree where Amos Spenner sits.

Let him just sit

And police are not going to do more to get the activist down to earth, says Kurt Steenfeldt from the Middle and West Jutland Police.

The shredding machines have a safety distance of 80 meters, so there must not be anyone within that radius. A sole Danish environmental activist could still be in a tree in the area where trees must be cleared.

Activist spokesman Tom Vilm said police are trying to persuade the man to come down.

– They have pushed a crane to the tree to get him down, said Tom Vilm.

12 hectares to be cleared at first

To make room for a test center for giant wind turbines, trees need to be cut down in a 266 hectare site, but initially only 12 hectares are to be cleared for access roads and pitches. Kurt Steenfeldt from the local police at Thisted confirms that six people were arrested.

– The situation at nine o’clock is calm. We go over the field with six to eight dogs to make sure that there is no one in the area where logging is to truly underway, he said.

Nature Agency steps up the pace

The Nature Agency pushed hard to be quickly finished with felling the trees on the first 12 of a total of 266 hectares in Østerild Klitplantage to make way for the world’s largest test center for large wind turbines.

Project Manager Claus Rasmussen, Nature Agency, says the Agency in Thy had originally planned to use two to three machines for deforestation, but now they have chosen to put five machines in and extra manpower in the woods.

The hope is that the first 12 hectares of forest are cut down before the week is out.

The activists moved around in the orchard

The morning found many of the activists in the woods, where they moved around in hopes of preventing logging work by getting in the way of the machines. Everything on Tuesday morning took place peacefully.

– There were about 30 activists present, two of them ran in front of a machine, but the police managed to remove them, said deputy police commissioner Ralf Hove Larsen from the police at Thisted.

– As long as the machine operator can work, the activists did not run away from the area, says Ralf Hove Larsen.

Activist: The battle is not lost yet

Anne Beate Jonsen, Norwegian, and activist in Østerild Klitplantage, said the police action was expected.

She believes that the battle has not yet been lost. Activists can move around in the orchard and perhaps prevent the logging work.

– We knew the police would turn out in strength, and there’s nothing to do at first. We were not interested in a confrontation with a larger police force. But we can still slow down the logging work, she says.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/26/six-arrested-in-sterild-klitplantage/