site.btaGreenpeace Activists Paint "Crime" on Cooling Tower of Maritsa 3 Power Plant

Greenpeace activists painted "CRIME" with letters that are twice their size, on a 50-m cooling tower of the Maritsa 3 coal-fired power plant in the southern town of Dimitrovgrad. They started the climb early on Monday morning and an announcement of the Greenpeace Bulgaria said they were going to paint a message for the authorities.

Seven people took part in the demonstration, which was in protest against the regular air pollution and abuses by the coal plant, the organization said. 

Participants in the action came from Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Greece and Romania. 

Velislava Mikova of Greenpeace Bulgaria says it is a peaceful protest for people's right to clean air. The organization insists that this country should abandon coal by 2030. She said that this coal plant has "a negligible contribution in the energy system and at the same time its electricity comes at the cost of severe pollution".

She urged the Environment Ministry to revoke the permit of the coal plant for failure to meet the terms and making air pollution in the region a regular problem.

Maritsa 3 lawyer Julian Semerdjiev told BTA that they would sue the activists for trespassing and will claim damages.

He described the Greenpeace action as "a dangerous publicity stunt of an international organization".