CHULA VISTA, California (Reuters) - Thousands of spectators turned out along San Diego Bay on Saturday to watch as demolition crews consigned an aging and decommissioned Dynegy Inc power plant to the dustbin of history.
Forty rapid-fire blasts from strategically placed explosives toppled the 165-foot structure, as onlookers cheered and shock waves set off car alarms across a widespread area.
Most of the estimated 5,000 spectators gathered in Marina View Park in Chula Vista, about 1,000-feet north of the plant, for the early morning spectacle.
Often criticized by environmentalists as an eyesore, the plant was built in the late 1950s at the edge of an expanse of wetlands adjacent to the bay.
Like other plants along the California Coast, it burned oil when it was first fired up in 1960. [More]
