SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine – Two Coast Guard boats and local police responded this morning when Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant security guards reported that a boat carrying three hunters was observed near a security zone around the power plant.
The men were hunting for duck in a marsh near the Seabrook, N.H., power plant when they were seen near the 250-yard security zone surrounding it.
Security guards held the men at the plant until police arrived for further questioning.
Coast Guard and police investigations are underway to determine whether the men did in fact violate the security zone.
“Security zones exist to protect people as well as the protected infrastructure, so we take all violations very seriously,” said Lt. Lauren Trocchio, the command duty officer at Sector Northern New England.
The maximum civil penalty for violating a security zone is $32,500 per offense. The maximum criminal penalty for knowing and willful violation of a security zone is 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
“We don’t want to discourage people from hunting,” Trocchio said. “We just want them to be mindful of nearby security zones and to comply with them at all times.”
