Wind Farm Protesters Arrested As They Blockade Road For Construction Vehicles

At least 22 arrests were made as of early Friday morning as protesters blocked an access road in Kalaeloa to prevent construction vehicles from transporting turbine parts and other equipment to a controversial wind farm project in Kahuku.

After the last arrest around 1:20 a.m., four construction trucks carrying sections of the turbines left the yard headed toward Kahuku. They were escorted by HPD vehicles, while police on foot lined both sides of the road.

At about 2:30 a.m., downed power lines blocked the highway near Kawela Bay, and the convoy stalled. A utility pole was “cut down intentionally” knocking out power for nearly 1,000 customers, according to Shannon Tangonan, a spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric Co. It’s unclear who cut down the pole, she said. Police are investigating.

Kamehameha Highway was still closed Friday morning and as of 9:30 a.m. more than 400 customers still had no power.

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/10/wind-farm-protesters-arrested-as-they-blockade-access-road-for-construction-vehicles/