Ecoterrorism gone right > Washington

Posted: 3/18/2008 11:52:37 AM EDT

Man tries to cut 69K volt power supply line to protest death of Luna the whale

Man tries to cut 69K volt power supply line to protest death of Luna the whale

posted 03/17/2008
On Saturday night, a 29-year-old man trespassed onto Orcas Power and Light Cooperatives' (OPALCO) Orcas substation at Boede’s Corner and attempted to cut a 69,000 volt power supply line with a pole saw. The man received severe burns and was air-evacuated to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he is in very serious condition.

An OPALCO lineman who responded to the outage was on site at the substation within twenty minutes and called the sheriff’s office for an aid car.The sheriff’s office and fire department arrived with aid within ten minutes. The man was still conscious at the time of transport. According to the sheriff’s report, the man, identified as Gabriel Mondragon, wanted to protest "the death of Luna the whale and the destruction of the rainforest."

Luna, a killer whale, stranded in Nootka Bay was accidently killed by a propeller in March 2006. The playful whale resisted attempts to lure her back to her pod and more aggressive measures were unacceptable to local tribes.

Electrical power was restored to most of Orcas island by 11:30 p.m. Some areas were without power until noon Sunday, March 16.

"This tragic incident underlines the importance of public education about the dangers of power lines and electrical safety," stated OPALCO General Manager, Randy Cornelius. "I’m proud of how quickly and efficiently our linemen and emergency services responded; I’m grateful for the professionalism of the law enforcement and fire service personnel who responded and took control of the scene—and am thankful that no lives were lost. Our thoughts are with the family of the young man that was injured."

OPALCO linemen re-secured the substation and have inspected and repaired the damage to the line. All substations are secured with chain-link fencing, barbed wire and posted with signage warning of high voltage danger. Trespassing on OPALCO property is punishable by law and the FBI was notified, following OPALCO’s incident protocol.

OPALCO is a member-owned cooperative electrical utility serving more than 10,000 islanders in San Juan County. OPALCO provides mostly renewable electricity that is 97% greenhouse-gas free and is predominately generated by hydro-electric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937 to bring electricity to rural Orcas Islanders and is one of 900 electric coops in the United States today.