On the day Dominion Virginia Power began construction of a coal-fired power plant in Southwest Virginia, 12 people were arrested in Richmond for protesting the plant.

The protesters yesterday blocked the entrance to the corporate headquarters of Dominion Virginia Power's parent company, Dominion Resources.

The activists blocked Tredegar Street for more than two hours, with four college students forming a human chain with their hands encased in containers of concrete and a fifth dangling by a climber's harness from the Lee Bridge footbridge that leads to Belle Isle.

The protesters -- all part of a contingent of more than 20 members of Blue Ridge Earth First! -- were arrested on misdemeanor charges.

Hannah Morgan, a 19-year-old resident of Appalachia, a town in Wise County, acted as spokeswoman for the group. She said the organization does not have an official membership roll but has attracted involvement from around the state.

Last week, the state Air Pollution Control Board approved pollution permits for the $1.8 billion, 585-megawatt power plant in Wise. That was the last regulatory hurdle keeping Dominion Virginia Power from beginning construction.

Blue Ridge Earth First! and a group called Mountain Justice say the plant will emit too much mercury and carbon dioxide, promote strip mining for coal in Southwest Virginia and cost consumers too much for electricity.

"We've been through the regulatory process -- it's time to take action on our own," Morgan said.

"We will not stop until Dominion stops," she said.

Also positioned to fight Dominion is the Southern Environmental Law Center, which has an office in Charlottesville. Officials at the center said last week that the organization plans to challenge Virginia Power's project in court.

Police yesterday charged the protesters with impeding traffic, spokeswoman Karla Peters said. By 6:30 p.m., Morgan said, all 12 who had been arrested were released after posting bond -- $2,000 for 11 and $3,500 for the protester who suspended himself from the bridge.

During the protest, Dominion employees were forced to walk to work after their vehicles were caught in a traffic jam that extended up North Fifth and Byrd streets, and the Downtown Expressway to Powhite Parkway.

"Dominion respects peaceful protest," company spokesman Karl Neddenien said yesterday. "However, we do not condone illegal activities, such as the blocking of the road and preventing our employees from getting to work."

Dominion employs about 640 people at its corporate headquarters, including the company's top executives. "It did affect the operability at Tredegar. . . . It had a significant effect," Neddenien said.

The person with the best view of the traffic jam was Marley Green, a 22-year-old senior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. It was Green, who grew up in Hamilton in Loudoun County, who climbed to the footbridge and lowered himself to dangle above Tredegar Street. His rope was attached to a 55-gallon drum, filled with concrete, in the middle of the street.

"Certainly, it's a risk," Green said in a cell phone conversation before lowering himself to the street about 9:25 a.m. "But it's one I'm willing to take, and one that needs to be taken, to show how reckless Dominion's plans are."

Morgan said Green descended out of concern for the safety of police officers who were preparing to climb out and lower him to the street.

James Madison students Bethany Spitzer, Alyssa Barrett and Holly Garrett and Virginia Tech student Kaitlyn Hart all had their hands anchored in concrete blocks.

The four used climbing carabiners to latch their wrists to bolts inside the concrete, and their arms were protected by a plastic and wire sleeve, said Richmond Fire Department Lt. Michael Oprandy. After firefighters began cutting into the blocks to reach the bolts, the protesters agreed to remove their hands voluntarily, Oprandy said.

Among its previous activities, Blue Ridge Earth First! protested Dominion's plans to build a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna power plant in Louisa County.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or mmartz@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer David Ress and Deputy Web Editor Randy Hallman contributed to this report.