NAOMA, W.Va. – Actress Darryl Hannah, NASA scientist James Hansen and other mountaintop removal mining opponents have been arrested during a protest in southern West Virginia.
State Police arrested Hannah, Hansen, former Rep. Ken Hechler and 27 other protesters Tuesday after they blocked State Route 3 near a Massey Energy subsidiary's coal processing plant in Boone County.
They were among several hundred protesters who rallied outside an elementary school near the plant's coal storage silo.
After the rally, the crowd marched quietly to the plant and attempted to enter the property. They were blocked by several hundred coal miners chanting "Massey." Protesters then sat on the road and were arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstruction and impeding traffic.
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