Oil train protester blocks track in Portland, arrested



Updated: June 30, 2014, 10:56 AM


PORTLAND — Police have moved a protester attached to a barrel full of concrete off of a railroad track at a Portland oil terminal and arrested her.

Officers used an electric saw and a hammer to free the woman Monday. Her arm was locked to rebar inside the concrete.

She was identified as 22-year-old Irene Marjorie Milsom of Portland, a member of Portland Rising Tide.

The group said its point is that while shipments of oil occasionally explode in derailments, the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting change in the climate "causes far greater harm to communities."

Police said Milsom would be charged with misdemeanors: trespassing, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.

A spokesman, Sgt. Pete Simpson, told The Oregonian that she was on a side track and didn't block any rail cars.