Trespassing case against antinuclear activist Diane Turco dismissed

Sarah Carlon, Cape Cod Times
·3 min read

Trespassing charges against Diane Turco in connection with a 2018 incident on the Pilgrim Power Plant were dismissed at Plymouth District Court on Monday, ending the long-awaited trial before it even started.

Prosecutors alerted Judge John Canavan that witnesses were not present, so they couldn't proceed with the trial. Canavan then quickly dismissed the case without prejudice.

Most people would be pleased with a pending criminal case against them being dismissed. But not Turco, a former Harwich teacher and activist who was facing a possible 30-day prison sentence.

“This is horrible, just terrible,” Turco, who is also the director of nuclear watchdog group Cape Downwinders, said to several stunned supporters as they left the courtroom. “I can’t believe it.”

Diane Turco, pictured here after her trespassing case was dismissed, holds a 2018 map created by the Union of Concerned Scientists that shows what the potential impact of leakage from the Pilgrim Power Plant would look like. "All that red, that's a dead zone," Turco said.
Diane Turco, pictured here after her trespassing case was dismissed, holds a 2018 map created by the Union of Concerned Scientists that shows what the potential impact of leakage from the Pilgrim Power Plant would look like. "All that red, that's a dead zone," Turco said.

In 2018, Turco said she entered the grounds of the Pilgrim power plant accompanied by a reporter. The two spent about 30 minutes walking the perimeter of the plant. She was not stopped by security going in or out, she said.

About two hours later, when she returned home to Harwich, a police officer arrived and told Turco she had trespassed. It wasn’t the first time. Turco and other Cape Downwinders activists Susan Carpenter, Mary Conathan and Sarah Thacher went on trial in 2014 for a 2012 trespassing incident after a protest at the plant.

'Joyful solidarity': Diane Turco's 40 years of Cape Cod activism

Dubbed the “Grandmother’s Trial,” the four women took the opportunity to raise their concerns about Pilgrim. Dr. Helen Caldicott, an anti-nuclear activist, physician and author testified on behalf of the women.

'We had witnesses prepared'

Turco said she planned to employ a similar strategy for her next trial, scheduled to begin on May 9 and last three days.

Several nuclear energy and public safety experts such as David Lochbaum, former director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Nuclear Safety Project, were expected to testify to the danger of the plant and its ongoing decommissioning, Turco said.

PLYMOUTH 05/06/22 The Lady of Justice looks down as Harwich's Diane Turco joins a group of demonstrators outside Plymouth Town Hall on Friday morning where U.S. Senator Ed Markey conducted a field hearing on issues facing communities with decommissioning nuclear plants. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times
PLYMOUTH 05/06/22 The Lady of Justice looks down as Harwich's Diane Turco joins a group of demonstrators outside Plymouth Town Hall on Friday morning where U.S. Senator Ed Markey conducted a field hearing on issues facing communities with decommissioning nuclear plants. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times

“We had witnesses prepared. I mean, David Lochbaum drove here from Tennessee. I am so angry, this is not right,” she said. “We were ready to nail them this week.”

The Commonwealth’s three witnesses, two police officers and a Pilgrim security officer, were subpoenaed for the trial today. But were no-shows, Turco's lawyers, Jeffrey Feuer and Lee Goldstein, said.

Cape town leaders oppose radioactive water release in Cape Cod Bay

“This is just further evidence of the arrogance and disregard of companies like (plant owner) Holtec, and the police departments too,” said Henrietta Cosentino, a Plymouth resident and Turco supporter. “The court and state totally failed to allow us to speak today.”

Henrietta Cosentino, Plymouth resident and supporter of Diane Turco, holds photographs she took of the plant she was planning to show to the court. Shown in the photo she is holding are two no trespassing signs. Cosentino said she executed an "unauthorized visit" onto the plant to take these photos, but wasn't stopped by security. "No trespassing, security takes notice, that's a total lie," she said.

Doug Long, a member of Cape Downwinders who also attended the trial on Monday, said he was disappointed.

“It’s disgusting and disrespectful,” he said. “Cape Downwinders has been fighting this for 30 years. If they go to the trouble of arresting one of our people and then don’t appear, it’s not just disrespectful, it's a complete ignoring (of) common safety.”

Although Turco’s lawyers said they can't challenge the ruling, Turco said she planned to be at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Monday public meeting at Plymouth’s Hotel 1620, as well as the planned protest beforehand.

“The state of Massachusetts is complicit,” Turco told supporters. "This is just unbelievable."

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod antinuclear activist's trespassing case dismissed