Environmentalists dumped sand and rotten oranges in a county development board’s office in a protest of plans to build the Scripps biotech research facility on a rural citrus grove. Nine protesters were arrested Wednesday after storming the offices of the Palm Beach County Business Development Board, police said. They ruined an Oriental rug in the lobby foyer by stomping the fruit, officials said. Two of the protesters had to be removed by the city fire department after they used bicycle locks to chain themselves to a stairway railing in the agency’s lobby, police said. The protesters were objecting to plans to build Scripps Florida in a citrus grove west of Palm Beach Gardens. They argue the facility will increase suburban sprawl, pose environmental hazards and hurt the fragile Everglades.
