Idaho megaload foes win Dalton Open Government Award

Credit to two local citizens who have taken on the world’s most profitable corporation, oil octopus Exxon-Mobil and others-

Ah, some credit to two average folks fighting the international oil companies to try to save the economy, scenery, fish and wildlife of the area around U.S. Highway 12.

Idaho megaload foes win Dalton Open Government Award. By Dan Popkey. Idaho Statesman

“The Max Dalton Open Government Award has been given each year since 1999 to a citizen or group judged to be an outspoken advocate of openness in either public records or public meetings on the state or local level.”

Among many other activities trying to kill the megaload shipments across the scenic, narrow, north central Idaho highway, the Daltons exposed Butch Otter’s secret deal with the oil companies to turn Highway 12 into an industrial corridor on the way to the Alberta tar sand pits.

The Daltons

Megaloads hearing to enter third week

Folks continue to have plenty to say-

Here is the story on the coming third week of testimony, from the Spokesman-Review.

It seems to me that local folks willing to testify are mostly unhappy.  Here is a detailed story about past testimony in New West. New Idaho Megaloads Hearings Address More Than 200 Shipments. By Steve Bunk.

Despite efforts by the Idaho legislature to prevent people from suing over the plans of the lovable oil companies, two new lawsuits on the issue were recently filed.  One is by the National Wildlife Federation, the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Montana chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Missoula County Commission against the Montana State Department of Transportation. The other is by Idaho Rivers United. IRU is against the Forest Service. The Lochsa River and a corridor 1/4 mile on either side is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and most of it is public national forest land. In fact the Lochsa was one of very first rivers protected, but the Forest Services is just standing by while the road right-of-way is being heavily chopped up for the wide and long loads.

Fate of ExxonMobil megaloads at stake in Boise hearings

Four day hearing on the future of the tar sands equipment megaloads are underway in Idaho’s capital city-

Residents on Highway 12 and recreation businesses are rallying against the megaloads.

Fate of ExxonMobil megaloads at stake in Boise hearings. By John Miller. AP in the Missoulian.

Montana judge halts the building of megaload turnouts in Western Montana

Another roadblock to the use of Idaho Highway 12 and Montana highways as corridors for moving Alberta bound tar sand equipment-

This is good news, although likely temporary.

The turnouts constructed on the Montana side of Lolo Pass appear to be larger than the oil giant said and closer to Lolo Creek which already suffers from highway runoff.

Judge stops construction of big-rig turnouts in western Montana.  By Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian

Megaloads have no place in Idaho

Idaho Rivers United editorial in the Idaho Statesman-

Megaloads have no place in Idaho. By Bill Sedivy. Idaho Statesman.

Megaloads tread on Idaho values

A good op ed from Idaho Rivers United-

Megaloads tread on Idaho values. By Kevin Lewis. Idaho Mountain Express.

Idaho lawmakers reject bill to let public comment on megaloads

Public Comment on them? We won’t even consider the bill, says Idaho legislative committee-

House panel rejects megaloads hearing requirement, won’t introduce bill. Spokesman-Review

Representative JoAn Wood is quoted in the article. According to Ballotpedia, “Wood is a business partner in a trucking/farming company.”

You can see the company in Eastern Idaho on your way St. Anthony. Government by conflict of interest; it is a principle of Idaho government.

LTE: Megaload transportation benefits Asian workforce

My question: Isn’t that the true plan?

For the Butch Otters, Mike Crapos, and Jim Risches of the world, Idaho is just a place to get the elected.  They don’t really see their job as representing the people in their geographic constituency.  They are simply a problem for manipulation every couple of years.  Meanwhile bring their pay down to Asian standards or hire Asian workers. That’s what the international corporations and Wall Street billionaires want.

The author to this LTE has this at least partially figured out as he discusses the megaloads.

Megaload transportation benefits Asian workforce. By Bill Chisholm. Buhl, Idaho. Times-News.

Crowds follow megaload along U.S. Highway 12 in Idaho

If all went well, it should stopped at the town of Kooskia now-

Crowds follow [first] megaload along U.S. Highway 12 in Idaho. By Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian missoulian.com

Local megaload opposition relents on first 4 megaloads

Opponents of the megaloads drop fight on the first four-

Having lost before the Idaho Department of Transportation, opponents of the oil megaloads will no longer try to stop the first four of them.  These are bound for the existing oil refinery in Billings, Montana. The next 200 megaloads (not approved for now) are for what many see as the tar sand pits from hell in Alberta, Canada.

Movement of the first four should reveal much about who is right about them?  Will the loads have great difficulty getting up the highway and over Lolo Pass?  Will there be an accident?  Will they be safely parked during the day, or will they end up blocking traffic? Will the megaloads harm the highway surface or warp the bridges?  Will the megaloads generate any local employment beyond a few people holding signs and public revenues going to pay for highway patrol escorts?

Idaho megaload opponents: Let big rigs roll to Billings. By Kim Briggeman of Missoulian. missoulian.com

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Feb. 1, 2011 update. As Megaloads Roll, What Two of Three Plaintiffs Learned About Opposition. New West (feature article). By Steve Bunk.  New West has done an outstanding job covering the megaloads issue. This is their latest feature article.

I was particularly impressed with this quote in the article, “Referring to state troopers who accompany megaloads through Idaho, Laughy remarked, ‘I find it particularly interesting that our state could be contracting out our police to the South Korean government.’ ”  I say it’s a good example what happens when we (the United States) are well on our way to being a colony of the corporations of other parts of the world (thanks to the work of people like provincial governor Butch Otter).

Opponents ask IDOT to reject megaloads despite hearing officer’s recommendation

It seems like local opposition to the movement of oil equipment megaloads is growing-

Foes of megaloads to continue fighting shipments. By Jessie L. Bonner.  By the Associated Press in Bloomberg.

Idahoans plan next moves against big oil’s megaloads

With first, 4 megaloads likely to get go ahead, how can the next 200+ be stopped?

” ‘In some respects it would be nice to get the four loads off the table so we could talk about the real issues,’ said [Linwood] Laughy, who lives along the federal scenic byway in Kooskia, Idaho.”

Laughy is saying movement of the first 4, the only America- bound loads up Highway 12, will show how accurate the objections to and promises being made are.

Read the rest of the AP story in the Idaho Statesman. “Foes of megaloads to decide on path forward.”

Of course, the loads are still sitting in the port of Lewiston, ID and central Idaho is locked in deep winter. Weather, courts could stall Idaho megaloads. Dec 29, 2010. By The Associated Press.

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While the usual international corporation supporters back the megaloads, the major group opposing them is the Idaho-based public interest law firm, Advocates for the West.

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Earlier NYT story on local residents opposing megaloads. Oil Sands Effort Turns on a Fight Over a Road. By Tom Zeller

Hearing officer says “yes” to first 4 oil megaloads

The next 200 or so loads are still on the table-

Boise attorney Merlyn Clark, hearing officer on the oil megaloads that will use U.S. Highway 12 across north central Idaho into Montana has ruled that the first 4 megaloads could be transported safely with “minimum inconvenience” up narrow U.S. Highway 12 to the Montana border (Lolo Pass).

These giant loads have been sitting at Idaho’s sea port of Lewiston for a month now. There is still some paperwork before their transport can begin, but little doubt we will see what actually happens as they take them up along the Clearwater and Lochsa River to the Bitterroot Divide and down into Montana.  The first 4 loads are for the Billings, MT oil refinery, not the Alberta tar sand pits.

The usual groups, such as the Idaho Farm Bureau (how is this a farm issue?), have been promoting the idea that moving this equipment along Highway 12 at night will be some kind of boom for business, although no explanation how that will happen.

There will be a big difference between the transport of 4 megaloads versus the next 200 (which are not included in this hearing officer’s decision).

Idaho agency advised to issue megaload permits. By John Miller. The Associated Press (in Bloomberg).

Much awaited hearing: Oil companys says plaintiffs in Highway 12 suit lack standing

Hearing officer limits testimony he will consider to small matters-

The much awaited hearing on giant oil machinery on Highway 12 was held today in Boise. It sounds like the Idaho Dept. of Transportation hearing officer will oil the way for the movement of the giant oil modules.

The hearing officer said he would only consider the first 4 modules, not the hundreds more to follow. The first 4 go to the Billings, Montana refinery, not Alberta’s tar sand pits.

The oil company said the plaintiffs, 4 citizens along Highway 12, lack standing to because they weren’t singled out — the transport won’t affect them to any greater extent than other citizens along the highway. Happily for Conoco, the hearing officer also said he would limit his review to whether foes have a right to get involved at this stage of the process.”

Oil company says foes lack standing in US 12 case. By Todd Dvorak. AP (from Business Week)

Boise Weekly has a story giving more of the color of the hearing. Overflow Hearing on Oversized Loads. By George Prentice.

Idaho business group backs plan to move oversized loads on U.S. Highway 12

“Business Group?”  You can bet this group is pure astroturf!

Stung by grassroots opposition in North Idaho and Montana to turning U.S. Highway 12 into an industrial highway to haul oversized oil equipment to Canada, a so-called business group has been formed. If you go to their web site, it seems to be associated with the Farm Bureau and Chamber of Commerce (who reportedly funneled millions of foreign money in the recent congressional campaign).  It would seem appropriate that they now do the bidding of international oil companies who don’t care one bit about the jobs and lives of the people in Idaho and Montana.

You can bet this group itself is no more than a P. O. Box, but from somewhere right now, and the near future, the resources will come to flood inboxes of newspapers, and the electronic media with propaganda of how the movement of all this giant machinery over many years is some great economic benefit to the natives who will watch it roll past, blocking their access to the highway.

Idaho business group backs plan to move oversized loads on U.S. Highway 12. By the Associated Press in missoulian.com

New York Times: Oil Sands Effort Turns on a Fight Over a Road (Highway 12)

National newspaper notices importance of the struggle of Idaho and Montana citizens against international oil-

Oil Sands Effort Turns on a Fight Over a Road. By Tom Zelller. New York Times.

I wish the NYT had also exposed the sellout to the oil companies by the states’ politicians.

Highway 12 promise to become industrial highway found hidden in Korean!

Promises to Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil to use scenic Highway 12 to haul huge oil modules for a decade discovered hidden on Korean, not in plain English-

Talk about lack of transparency in Montana and Idaho state governments!  It’s good this was revealed just before Butch Otter has to face reelection as governor of Idaho.

Korean Documents Show 10-Year Promise for Highway 12. Public News Service.

The first pieces of the Korean equipment are now sitting in Lewiston, Idaho, ready to haul up through the Lolo country on Highway 12 and over to Montana.

Cocker drum ready to go in Lewiston. Photo from Conoco-Philips

Third oil company looks to bring big rigs over U.S. Highway 12

Worst case scenario seems correct-

The Missoulian reports that a subsidiary of the national oil company of Korea now wants to use scenic U.S. Highway 12 through north central Idaho and over Lolo Pass to transport numerous giant oil (tar sands) equipment to Alberta.

Despite worthless assurances about this kind of activity being a one time thing, it’s plainly obvious that as predicted the oil companies mean to make the highway along this asphalt ribbon through the wilderness an equipment hauling route.

This will slowly ruin the lives to downstream residents who have to endure these highway blockages, disrupt traffic into Montana, harm the Lochsa, and Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, and make recreational and timber cutting access into the surrounding mountains slow and difficult by requiring long alternative routes.

Third oil company looks to bring big rigs over U.S. Highway 12. By Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian.

The Lochsa River. North Central Idaho. Copyright Ralph Maughan

While Highway 12 through Idaho is just a 2-line highway, its improvement over the years (a gravel road until the 1960s) has long disrupted the lives of people. In the past it was Montana. A number of abandoned Eastern Montana towns came to their end as transport of their grain changed from the railroads to trucks going in the opposite direction down Highway 12.

Supervisors of Lolo, Clearwater national forests oppose big rigs on Highway 12

This is a significant move of new support against the use of the highway to move giant tar sands modules-

Supervisors of Lolo, Clearwater national forests oppose big rigs on Highway 12. AP in the Missoulian.

Highway 12 winds along between these two national forests.

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Other recent news about the Highway 12 controversy-

Proposed industrial route through scenic Idaho raises alarm.
“Residents say a two-lane highway along the Clearwater River is no place for oversize oil-field equipment headed for Canada.”
September 15, 2010. By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times

Oregon congressman steps in to help save Highway 12 from use for massive modules of tar sands machinery

Rocky Barker reports on effort by Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio-

DeFazio says tar sands over-sized shipments cost all American taxpayers. By Rocky Barker. Letters from the West. Idaho Statesman.

Big Oil wants a permanent corridor through the Lolo

More on the attempt to make U.S. Highway 12 an oil industry corridor-

This from the new group, the Rural People of Highway 12.

U.S. Highway 12: Idaho’s Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and All-American Road

• • •

Big Oil: One-Time Deal or Permanent Takeover?

Promoters of turning Idaho’s Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and All-American Road into an industrial truck route for gargantuan loads argue that currently planned and pending ConocoPhillips and Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada mega-load shipments are a “one-off deal;” a one time event. Actually, the ExxonMobil Canada shipments alone number 207, and for successive 15+ minute segments, will close the highway to all traffic five nights a week for an estimated 9 months. But the truth about the oil companies’ intentions lies well beyond those 207 loads……

• The Port of Lewiston, both on their website and in grant applications for port expansion with taxpayer money, states, “If one oil company is successful with this alternative transportation route, many other companies will follow their lead.”

• The CEO of Sungjin Geotec, the Korean company that manufactured the 207 ExxonMobil Canada modules, told a Korean news agency his company expects to receive future orders for additional modules from Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada totaling $1.5 billion. The 207 loads now scheduled for U. S. 12 cost $250 million, suggesting that $1.5 billion would pay for about 1200 modules. The Edmonton Journal of Alberta, Canada, recently reported that a Sungjin representative in Calgary confirmed that his company expects to build hundreds of additional modules.

Missoulans protest Alberta-bound tar sands equipment trucking

Over 200 trips of these giant oil equipment pieces to go through U.S. 12 in Idaho and NW Montana-

I think perhaps there has been too much attention in this forum on elk in Lolo.  Elk are important, but fishing, scenery, wilderness, and property of local people are more important. U.S.Highway 12 is one of Idaho’s most scenic highways. It goes through scenic canyon and between wild country following the Clearwater River, then the Lochsa River up and over Lolo Pass into Montana.

The exploitation of Alberta’s tar sands are well known as perhaps the single most environmentally destructive project on the planet (at least until the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico). Now that destruction has spread to Idaho and Montana with these massive loads which require “improving” Highway 12 and other highways in Montana.

Some of the good folks in Missoula are fed up with oil company damages and protested. Protest rally. By Rob Chaney. Missoulian.

We will be following this more from now on.