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Home | Friday 27th March 2009 | Issue 670

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FAMOUS FIFE

On Wednesday (25th) five protesters stopped work at the Muir Dean open-cast coal mine near Crossgates in Fife, operated by ATH Resources. They climbed onto a huge excavator in the centre of the pit, displaying a banner demanding “No New Coal”. Unexpectedly, Fife police detained all five protesters despite them agreeing to come down off the excavator, even though workers at the site were happy for them to just leave. They are currently being held at Dunfermline police station.

Controversy surrounds the Muir Dean site as the original planning application was refused by Fife council but this was overturned by the Scottish Government.

The ATH Resources operated site produces around 450,000 tonnes of coal per year and will produce 4 million tonnes in total – equivalent to around 7.32 million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Thirteen new open cast coal mines are due to open in Scotland.
One activist said “We’re here to send a message to ATH Resources that mining the dirtiest fossil fuel and fueling climate change is not acceptable. As mining companies such as ATH don’t appear to be listening, we’ve come to stop them mining, too.”

The five protesters were arrested for a “Breach of the Peace” and given trial dates in August.

* http://coalactionedinburgh.noflag.org.uk

Keywords: ath resources, carbon emissions, climate change, coal, direct action, fife, muir dean, scotland


 

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