Scott Stultz of Marietta calls himself "somebody who has NEVER gotten involved in local issues or local politics, whatsoever.'' All that changed one day when Stultz was doing yard work.

He was handed a leaflet, by a man going around town, about a power plant proposed for the outskirts of Marietta.

Now, Stultz is helping to lead residents of the Susquehanna River borough in a campaign against the $600 million plant proposed by a Delaware utility.

A new citizens' group has emerged to fight the plant -- Susquehanna Advocates for Sustainable Development, which has grown quickly and now, as of the start of this week, already had 132 dues-paying members.

Of course, SASD isn't the first group of Lancaster County residents to band together in recent years and fight a project that it didn't want.

And as the Marietta-area residents continue their still-new efforts, they're getting the active support, encouragement and other help from citizens' groups elsewhere in the county that have fought the battle before.

People Against Landfill Expansion (PALE), of Manor Township, that opposed the plan to add to the county's landfill, donated 100 metal poles for anti-power plant signs that SASD has ordered.

PALE's anti-landfill signs became a familiar sight around the county after the landfill expansion came to light more than two years ago, and SASD is planning a similar effort to raise public awareness for its issue.

Land-use activist Fred Daum is planning to donate another 100 or so metal poles, and SASD plans to put up "STOP CONECTIV'' signs.

The gas- and oil-fired power plant, proposed by Conectiv Mid-Merit for an 85-acre site along Route 441, would be the biggest of its type in the country, SASD members say.

And those who have fought City Hall -- figuratively -- before are coming to the Marietta residents' aid.

Leaders of opposition efforts elsewhere -- such as Daum and Jim Huber, of Friends Against Irresponsible Development, a Manor Township grassroots group opposing the Wal-Mart supercenter plan there -- have attended SASD meetings to give support and advice.

According to Daum, the power plant and other projects show a need for "a regional committee of concerned citizens for Lancaster County. What such a committee could do is prevent the need to "reinvent the wheel.'''

The bottom line, say those in SASD and the others, is that these groups are now working together like never before.

Says SASD member Terry Zeller, of Mount Joy, "It's not just about fighting the power plant -- that's the current issue -- but it's really the overall issue of sustainable development in the county.

"And the fact that all of these citizens' groups are forming in Lancaster County also shows that municipal government is not being responsive to the people who elected them -- whether it's the baseball stadium in Manheim Township or the landfill.''

But supporters of the plant say that opponents' fears are overblown, and that the impact on the environment and the local quality of life won't be what the citizens' group claims.

Some backers also cite the boost in tax income that local school and municipal governments would receive, but SASD members say it's nothing close to what has been described.

So while the individual issue is different from PALE or FAID, the theme is generally the same.

Says Stultz, "The fact that these other groups exist has helped us make the power plant more than just a small-town issue for Marietta Borough.

"Now, we're seeing groups from across York and Lancaster counties who are interested in water quality and air quality, and in (the issue of) large corporations usurping individual rights.

The advice from the other groups who have had their issues to battle has been invaluable, he says.

"They've helped us with things like how to keep our group from getting bogged down in unnecessary bureaucracy, or how to raise public awareness of our cause without having to spend a lot of money.

"Or, who to contact regarding the legal and regulatory standpoints to make our case.''

Zeller, a Green Party candidate for state representative last fall, chairs SASD's research committee. He claims there's "a general feeling of these citizen groups that planning in Lancaster County is not all it's cracked up to be.''

Stultz appreciates the support, both from those in the Marietta area and other parts of the Garden Spot.

"It is a real positive. Most of us are busy -- I have three children and run my own business, so I know what that's like.''

East Donegal supervisors gave Conectiv the last local approval it needed at a meeting in early January that ran for more than seven hours.

Stultz adds that the plant "is not a done deal,'' and must face other regulatory approvals.

SASD's goal is "to do what local government has not -- to alert the public to important land-development issues and the benefits or threats to our region and quality of life,'' Stultz has said.

The organization holds weekly public meetings Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Marietta Borough Hall.

Daum, of East Lampeter Township, is co-founder of the group LAND, formed in response to what he calls "concerns about the overdevelopment of eastern Lancaster County, and the harm that a four-lane highway (Route 23) would bring'' to that area.

He says the Marietta residents' battle is an example of why a countywide network of concerned citizens is needed.

"Somebody who maybe lives in a Clay Township, where there's an issue, might be aware of something that a Fred Daum in East Lampeter or somebody in Quarryville might not, but they could make all citizens aware.''

Daum is making another tangible contribution to SASD -- he's donating a $10,000 copier to the group.

Daum also has gotten involved in two projects that got halted -- the baseball park in Manheim Township and a proposed Lancaster General Hospital medical center in West Earl Township.

Also coming to SASD meetings to help the group is Jon Price, a Clay Township supervisor and a Democrat running for county commissioner.

The power-plant issue shows how county municipalities need to work together more, Price says, and the commissioners "need to take a lead role'' in tackling such problems from a regional perspective.

As a township supervisor himself he's not being critical of East Donegal's elected board, he said, but the power plant is still "something that's going to affect a lot of surrounding communities, and that's where I think they (the commissioners) need to be involved.''

Democrat Price's activity means that involvement in the power plant is touching nearly all the political bases -- from SASD's Zeller, of the Green Party, to Huber, a Republican and former county commissioner who is seeking the post again.