Some who protested power plant get clean records

Eleven months ago, Marley Green dangled in a climber's harness from a pedestrian bridge in downtown Richmond to protest the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Wise County.

Yesterday, Green walked out of a Richmond courtroom with no charges on his record from the protest after completing 225 hours of community service here, including helping another environmental group battle another proposed power plant, this time in Surry County.

"We got to work with some really neat community groups and small nonprofits," he said. "We got to do some work that benefits real people, not just picking up trash on the highway."

Green, 23, was one of eight activists who had their records expunged of charges that they obstructed justice and blocked an emergency vehicle in the protest, which blocked the entrance to Dominion Resources Inc.'s corporate headquarters on Tredegar Street on June 30, 2008. Four activists chained themselves to concrete-filled containers across the utility company's driveway while Green hung overhead, causing a traffic backup for more than two hours at rush hour.

One other member of the "Tredegar 12" was convicted yesterday on all charges after failing to complete the 200 hours of community service required under a plea agreement approved by Richmond General District Judge Thomas O. Jones a year ago. Emily Gillespie of Bowling Green, Ky., completed just eight hours of service, which the judge required to be performed in Richmond.

"It was not acceptable," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Toni M. Randall, who added that Gillespie intends to appeal the conviction. "All the others did a great job."

Two other members of the Blue Ridge Earth First! Group charged in last year's protest will appear in court in September. Laura Van Dohlen of Charlottesville and Lara Mack of Harrisonburg were convicted last year after challenging the charges in court and were ordered to each perform 200 hours of community service. The final member of the group, Kaitlyn E. Hart of Blacksburg, chose to spend a weekend in Richmond City Jail rather than perform the community service.

Those who did the community service made a mark in Richmond, where they helped Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery create a Web site, design and print business cards, and restore the cemetery keeper's house. "It was a huge amount of work," said Doug C. Welsh, president of the Shockoe Hill organization. "They really helped put us on the map."

The activists worked at the John Marshall House, Diversity Thrift and Project Community, a nonprofit organization serving low-income residents of the city. And they also helped the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, which is fighting a coal-fired power plant proposed in Surry by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative.

"A lot of people don't get it done," said Ed Riley, a Richmond attorney who represented Green. "You got it done."

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .