Tower Protesters Block Workers, Marshals : Ojai Valley: A temporary human blockade is set up after a judge allows access to the disputed radar structure.

By SCOTT HADLY

Jan. 8, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Ojai Valley protesters blocked federal work crews and U.S. marshals from reaching a new mountaintop radar tower for 2 1/2 hours Friday afternoon, disbanding only after local law enforcement officers warned of their imminent arrest.

The 50 residents of the upper Ojai Valley set up the human blockade after a federal judge approved the condemnation of a roadway that federal workers need to gain access to the National Weather Service’s radar tower under construction on top of Sulphur Mountain.

Neighbors opposing the completion of the radar tower, which will emit low-level radiation when operational, have tried to halt construction through legal challenges to the government’s right to use a private roadway to the site.

In a countermove to void the challenges, the National Weather Service on Friday persuaded a federal judge to allow the government to seize the roadway under its powers of condemnation.

Within hours of the ruling, federal workers hauling a 75-ton crane arrived at the work site under the escort of 14 officers with the U.S. Marshals Service.

The federal crew and escorts were met by 50 irate residents and children, holding up signs and blocking their way while booing.

“I find this a little intimidating when the government sends in all these guys who are six feet tall and over 200 pounds to make sure they can get into the site,” said Virginia Loy, a member of the Environmental Coalition of Ojai.

Despite the marshals’ presence, the protesters held their ground, parking their cars along the narrow roadway and standing in the way of the trucks. An official with the U.S. Marshals Service said as long as the protesters stayed off federal property they were out of federal jurisdiction.

“We’re not here to cause any problems,” said Charlie Almanza, chief deputy in charge of the contingent from the U.S. Marshals Service. “The government now owns the driveway and we’re here to make sure the people allow us to get the truck through.”

Almanza said the federal officers were dispatched immediately after the court decision to allow federal seizure of the access roadway owned by Agnes Baron.

“It’s so cold that they can do that to an 86-year-old lady,” said Kenny Fuller, whose property abuts the radar site. “Just take her property when they see fit.”

Fuller and other neighbors of the weather radar tracking station stood in the road and waited for the marshals to take action. One protester yelled, “How would you like this in your back yard?” Others tried to hand the federal officials literature detailing protesters’ complaints over the tower, which they believe emits potentially harmful levels of radiation.

At dusk, seven Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrived, followed by three others from the California Highway Patrol.

The protesters disbursed when the deputies and CHP officers, who have jurisdiction on local land, told those in the blockade to end their civil disobedience or risk arrest.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Patti Givner, whose husband, Dale, is the attorney who spent Friday morning trying to stop the government action. “I thought we had rights and that the government would never do anything like this. I don’t understand how they can do this to their own citizens.”

Lawyers representing the neighbors opposed to the radar tower said the government was trying to complete the project before the local residents could file another lawsuit to halt construction.

Attorneys representing the Environmental Coalition of Ojai, actor Larry Hagman and other upper Ojai Valley residents said one federal lawsuit is scheduled to go to court Monday. The suit is challenging the project on the grounds that the government failed to do the proper environmental reviews.

“They want to get it operational because they think once it get operational the protests will diminish,” said Fred Blum, a San Francisco-based attorney representing the coalition. “It’s typical government overkill and its typical of their behavior on this project.”

Dale Givner said Blum’s lawsuit was a second chance for the protesters to stop the project.

“We haven’t lost,” he said as the protesters made way for the crane to pass to the construction site. “We’ll be back to fight another day.”