Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on April 27, 1981.
Marchers protest, support Bailly
By Steve Dinnen
Hundreds of colorful helium-filled balloons make their way out over Lake and Porter counties Saturday following their release as part of an anti-nuclear demonstration outside the gates leading into Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s Bailly Nuclear 1 plant site. The path of the balloons is meant to represent the path of nuclear material in the event of an accident at Bailly. Persons finding the balloons, which have return addresses inside them, will be asked to mail cards to various groups that supported the rally.
(V-M: Martin Gehring)
BURNS HARBOR ー Placards and pennants said it all for 500 anti-nuclear demonstrators as they gathered outside the gates of the Bailly Nuclear 1 site Saturday to protest any resumption of construction at the unfinished north county power station.
“Radiate truth, not people,” “Say NO to NIPSCO” and “No more Three Mile Islands” signs bobbed over protestors’ heads as they reaffirmed their opposition to Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s plans to finish the plant, which is only one percent complete.
Jointly sponsored by the Bailly Alliance, Porter County Citizens Concerned About Bailly and Citizens Against Nuclear Power, the rally was pulled off with few hitches as demonstrators began to assemble Saturday morning a mile away from the Bailly entrance. By noon sufficient forces were marshalled to begin a march alongside roads and then onto U.S. 12, where they halted at the east gate of Bethlehem Steel Corp., which also serves as the entrance to Bailly.
Under the watchful eye of county and local police, the band chanted “No nukes” as various union and political leaders stepped up to the microphone and pledged their opposition to Bailly. Speaking to whom he called “residents of the fallout zone,” Mike Olszanski, a committeeman with United Steelworkers of America local 1010, said ratepayers must say no to NIPSCO’s rate increases and the hauling of radioactive wastes from Bailly when and if it is completed.
“If the politicians won’t listen, we’ll get new ones,” Olszanski said of his pleas.
Bailly 1 protesters
U.S. 12 turned into a pedestrian concourse Saturday afternoon as 500 anti-nuclear demonstrators used it to march to the gates of the proposed Bailly 1 nuclear demonstrators used it to march to the gates of the proposed Bailly 1 nuclear generating station. Heavy union support of the rally can be seen from the placards carried at the protest, which included groups from the Bailly Alliance, Porter County Citizens Concerned About Bailly and Citizens Against Nuclear Power.
(V-M: Martin Gehring)
Porter Town Board member Tom Esgate next said that the protestors had gathered to “jar some sense into NIPSCO’s corporate head.” Esgate, whose community is practically within earshot of the Bailly site, said he felt NIPSCO had failed to adequately discuss evacuation or emergency plans with neighboring towns, an act he said was appalling and possibly criminal.
“NIPSCO seems to have forgotten that it was at one time a public service company,” Esgate said. He added that the company, and not the protestors, was the radical in the dispute and that the firm had become a “vigilante industry.”
Chicagoan Bill Steyert pretty well sums up his sentiments on nuclear power as he waves his flag high to show protest against NIPSCO’s Bailly 1 nuclear plant. Behind him sits a substation on the Bailly site that presently provides power to adjacent Bethlehem Steel Corp.
Next to the rostrum was James Balanoff who, as director of District 31 of the USWA, oversees about 100,000 northwest Indiana and Midwest steelworkers. Balanoff claimed Hoosiers are being ripped off by NIPSCO, and that ratepayers don’t want to pay for a nuclear plant that would, in his opinion, be expensive, obsolete and a possib;e health hazard.
The Bailly plant owner also came under fire from its own employees, who were represented by U.S.W.A. Local 12775 president Fred Hershberger. He said the NIPSCO’s sole concern is with profits, and he claimed the utility’s management is incompetent and “has no business running a nuclear plant.”
Following the speeches demonstrators released several hundred colorful helium-filled balloons. As they rose and scattered toward the southwest in the 50 degree air, the festive atmosphere of the rally was heightened as a choir sang in the background.
Most of the protestors appeared to be in their mid to late 30’s, but every age group ー from toddlers to senior citizens ー was represented. The demonstrators were well behaved, and instructions to them beforehand included information on how to string out their procession to make it appear larger to television cameras.
Walter Rast, professor of theology at Valparaiso University, delivered the convocation for about 500 anti-nuclear demonstrators as they gathered outside the gates leading into the bailly site for an early afternoon rally.
Police on the scene served as little more than traffic cops, as initial fears of a confrontation fizzled when a pro-nuclear group left the gates shortly before the larger band arrived.
The Lake-Porter County Leadership Council mustered about 70 people who marched to the Bailly gate around noon to voice their support for nuclear energy and construction at the plant. Joseph Morris, chairman of the citizens’ action group, said afterward that he was pleased with the results of the march.
“We had made a serious attempt to evaluate the situation, and concluded that nuclear energy is safe, efficient and needed,” Morris said.
Martin Henrichs, president of the council, said his group adopted its stand after determining that coal fired power stations are obsolete and sources of pollution. He said the platform also was adopted because charges for electricity generated from fossil fuels is escalating beyond the means of many American.
A spokesman for NIPSCO said today that his company would have no comment on the Saturday demonstrations. He also said no decision has yet been made on whether to proceed with Bailly, which reportedly has cost NIPSCO $180 million to date.
Nuclear power supporters
Persons in favor of nuclear energy had their day in the streets to, as a stalwart band of 70 marched to the bailly site and staged a rally to show their support for the nuclear industry in general and Bailly specifically. The pro nuclear demonstration was organized by the Lake-Porter leadership Council.