Two reports of sabotage at Mainshill Wood have been posted on Indymedia – one involving the drilling rig on site and another involving harvesting equipment which has been relentlessly targeted over the past month, both with sabotage and early morning actions. Things are heating up at Mainshill as the defiance of the community takes on Scottish Coal’s determination to profit at any cost. It’s crunch time for new coal in South Lanarkshire.
From Indymedia Scotland:
An anonymous communique was received after two machines used for drilling and testing for coal on site were sabotaged in the early hours of Tuesday morning… The communique reads:
“On the morning of Tuesday the 20th of October two heavy vehicles had their Fuel lines, wiers, gears and fuel tanks destroyed. Their windows and bodys where also spreypainted.
The vehicles damaged have been working to prepare the Mainshill Wood area for coal extraction. If it is open casted then it will join several other mines in the Douglas Valley, two of which are currently expanding.
Scottish Coal, the land owner Lord Home and the government and more than prepared to sacrifice the health of local communities and environment, as well as contribute to climate change and nearly universal environmental degradation for wages, bonuses, targets and profits.
This action was taken by a group of autonomous people in solidarity with all those who oppose the development of Mainshill Wood into an open cast coal mine.”
Another anonymous communique has been received,
“On the morning of Tuesday the 20th of October three tree felling vehicles had wiers cut, lights and other fixtures broken. Their windows where also spreypainted and a free standing flood light was tipped and smashed.
The vehicles damaged have been working to prepare the Mainshill Wood area for coal extraction. If it is open casted then it will join several other mines in the Douglas Valley, two of which are currently expanding.
Scottish Coal, the land owner Lord Home and the government and more than prepared to sacrifice the health of local communities and environment, as well as contribute to climate change and nearly universal environmental degradation for wages, bonuses, targets and profits.
This action was taken by a group of autonomous people in solidarity with all those who oppose the development of Mainshill Wood into an open cast coal mine.”
For more information about the campaign see http://mainshill.noflag.org.uk/
Today, Wednesday 21 October, Shell to Sea stopped work at an illegal Shell site for the entire day when a campaigner climbed onto the arm of a digger which was laying bog mats, in preparation for drilling works.
On the night from Oct. 18 to Oct. 19, activists decorated trees and surroundings in front of the local E.on management building with specially prepared toilet paper. Printed on it were the slogan “e.off”, radioactivity warning signs and symbols of the local anti nuclear resistance movements.
There will be a walkabout the Earth Centre at Conisbrough (Doncaster, S. Yorks)on Friday, 23rd October at 1pm.
Rebellion, a spark in search of a powder keg – the new Action Update is out, the quarterly round-up of ecological direct action from the UK and beyond.
Climate change activists have hailed this weekend’s direct action as a “massive success” after repeatedly breaching the fence and spending 24 hours outside Ratcliffe coal-fired power station.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Chief Inspector has admitted that the figure of 80 people arrested during the first day of the climate swoop at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station was not correct. In fact only 52 people were arrested.
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