AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) – Three Greenpeace activists were fined Monday after scaling an 18-meter (60-foot) chimney at a waste incinerator to protest the burning of garbage.
In a pre-dawn protest, the three placed a cover over the chimney’s top before chaining themselves to the incinerator, located in a south Auckland industrial area near a low-cost housing estate.
Annette Cotter, 25, Michael Simpson, 29, and Ginnaya Turner, 25, were removed by police. Later Monday, they were convicted and fined 150 New Zealand dollars (U.S. $73). Greenpeace said in a statement the incinerator released highly toxic chemicals, including the cancer-causing agent dioxin. The protest was part of a “global day of action spearheaded by Greenpeace and the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance,” the statement said.
Incinerators waste the planet’s resources and burden communities with higher costs of health and environment degradation, Greenpeace toxics campaigner Veronica Odriozola said.
