KYW Flashback: Water Drama In Sleepy Point Pleasant
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- By March of 1984, the sleepy village of Point Pleasant alongside the Delaware River was known only for its pristine countryside, canoeing on the river and a post office window where neighbors would exchange the local gossip.
But then KYW Newsradio was reporting growing community opposition to plans for an obscure project that radiated far beyond the little Bucks County town. The Point Pleasant Pumping Station would carry water from the Delaware across Bucks and Montgomery Counties to cool the nuclear power plant at Limerick.
The mass demonstrations that followed lasted for years. Both sides were heard as KYW covered marches, blockades, arrests, public meetings and court hearings. But opinions were cast in stone.
Environmentalists who wanted to preserve the pristine nature of the river were joined by anti-nuclear activists, one of whom spent days shouting in protest from the upper branches of a tree.
1960s anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman joined the protest. It became a daily drama. But in the end, the pump was built and now supplies area drinking water -- and Limerick.