Stopping the Poison factory, 2nd September 2001











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Tripod Action against the HLC incinerator



After months of using the \'Democratic\' channels, local residents were forced to turn to direct action.



The UK has been ordered by the EEC to clean up it\'s act and stop dumping waste in Landfil sites. Rather than follow the lead of countries such as Germany and recycle, New Labour has opted to build 140 polluting incinerators and to contract them out to private firms.

HLC, a Portuguese company have won a 27 year contract to burn the waste from 3 South Wales towns; planning permission was granted before anyone realised what was going to be built and to spite the fact that the environment agency has yet to grant an operations license construction is well advanced.

HLC would not be allowed to build the Swansea incinerator in their home country, yet in the UK they are going ahead less than 200 meters from the nearest houses.







To see captions to photos hold the mouse over them, to view the images full size, click on them



Before dawn on the 2nd of September protestors gathered at the gate to the HLC incinerator and erected a scaffold tripod.





Tripods are an immensely effective protest tool, easy to erect they are nigh impossible to remove without endangering the protestor who climbs them. 3 Scaff Poles and 2 Swivel clips are all that is needed to create a formidable 20 foot structure that will block any traffic access.







We started out in the darkness and in a military style operation ran down to the gates of the Incinerator Complex, while some residents chained the gates trapping the security guards inside other protestors erected the tripod. Within a minute it was over, the security retreated to make phonecalls and \'Thomas Tree\' swung in a harness just below the apex of the tripod.



By the time the construction workers started to arrive the banners were up and it was clear that we were not going to be moved in a hurry, the response was surprisingly positive and although most of the workers were on contract and looked set to lose a days pay they expressed support for the protest. Many spoke of their fears about working on a site where the ground is so contaminated that it releases gas when trenches are dug.









The Police arrived and at first seemed keen to move against the protest on the grounds of obstruction, however once it was pointed out to them that this was private land they reassessed the situation and decided that thier role should remain neutral. They were very good natured to both protestors and workforce and the general atmosphere was upbeat.







Soon the Traffic Jam stretched right back towards the main road as some 200 construction workers waited to see if they would gain access to the site or be paid by HLC for making the effort to show up. The early morning press release also began to pay off with every local paper, TV and radio station showing up. \'Thomas Tree\' however was feeling unwell and asked to come down, for a moment it seemed like the protest would end, but an impromtu human pyramid saw Alan lifted up the greasy poles and into the empty harness!







A couple of the workers were unhappy at losing a days wages and after negotiations it was agreed that they could enter the site on foot as this would entitle them to claim wages from the company. In the event very few opted to cross the protest line. After representations from the security about saftey the gates were unlocked, soon afterwards HLC top brass started slipping onto the site and it was decided that they should be locked again.







Things then eased down as the last few workers either walked onto the site or left and the Media gathered to fillm and take interviews. Then a group approached who were recognised as the top site managers from HLC, in a lucky bonus we had disrupted a top level site visit. The Police moved in and it was clear that the executives planned to get onto the site. They tried to gain access through a neighboring factory, but the owners had made it clear that they did not wish to get involved by allowing access over their land. After much heated debate they retreated, clearly very unhappy.





From then on it was a very relaxed affair with local families arriving and children playing with protestors and police alike! Around 4Pm it was decided that the goals of the protest had been achieved and Alan came down.



More protests are planned, however protestors are mindful that HLC will refuse to pay workers who cannot get onto the site. This company will use any ploy to get their way but it is important to keep the sympathies of the workforce.



To get involved in the anti-Incinerator campaign, please visit STIC\'s website at: http://www.stic.org.uk/

See also our profile of July\'s protest at the environment agency









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