The ExxonMobil refinery in Fawley in the south of England is the UK’s largest refinery and petrochemical plant, producing nearly a fifth of the fuel used on UK roads.
According to representatives of Extinction Rebellion, dozens of activists cut down the fence around the plant before dawn, and then spread out on the site in small groups.
Some blocked the entrance to the refinery with the pink boat known from earlier protests, and several people climbed to the top of one of the 15-meter-high fuel tanks, putting up a sign there saying that fossil fuels have no future.
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The protesters include two British Olympic athletes – sailor Laura Baldwin and boater Etienne Stott, the London 2012 Olympic gold medalist. Stott was arrested last year during an Extinction Rebellion protest at London’s Waterloo Bridge and later convicted of disrupting public order. . He and Baldwin rallied against the boat that blocked the entrance to the refinery.
ExxonMobil said the plant at Foley was still operating and the protest had no impact on production. In turn, the police said that there are officers at the site and that they will take action if necessary. No one has been arrested yet.
