Monthly Archives: December 2011

ExxonMobil Says Tar Sands Shipments Will Resume Through Moscow Thursday Night & Another Company Considering Using U.S. 12 for Megaloads

Posted on by
Reply

For broadcast coverage of the false restart of Imperial Oil megaload travel on Highway 95 after the December 6 module collision with a pulled-over mini-van as well as news about a possible Highway 12 transportation project proposed by Harvest Energy for its Alberta tar sands equipment and the postponement of westbound Highway 12 passage of an oversized Selway Corporation pipe for a hydroelectric facility at Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, listen to ExxonMobil Says Tar Sands Shipments Will Resume Through Moscow Thursday Night and Another Company Considering Using U.S. 12 for Megaloads between 16:48 and 12:20 on the KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Megaloads to Resume, on Wednesday, December 14, at http://radiofreemoscow.org/2011/12/20111214/.

Driver Reports Minor Injuries after Being Hit by Megaload Last Week

Posted on by
Reply

The driver of a mini-van pulled over by a flagger and hit by the lead megaload at a staging area south of Moscow, Idaho, on November 8 told a local radio station manager/reporter that he sustained minor injuries that have resulted in back and leg pain from the collision characterized by Idaho State Police as a non-injury accident.  Although he refused a recorded interview, James Urquidez expressed dismay with his near-fatal experience, the dismissive attitude of megaload facilitators and accident investigators, the Idaho state police, and megaload hauler Mammoet’s delayed compensation for his unusable, totaled vehicle.  Listen to Driver Reports Minor Injuries after Being Hit by Megaload Last Week, between 15:12 and 12:29 on the KRFP Radio Free Moscow Tuesday, December 13, Evening Report, Driver Hit by Megaload Injured.

Time to Clean Out Autocrats

Posted on by
Reply

Bill London, Moscow

Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/13/11

Sure enough, after all the promises that the megaloads posed no problems to those of us who also use the U.S. Highway 95 route, a megaloads driver smashed into a couple of cars. Thankfully, the megaloads didn’t kill anyone this time. According to the Daily News article (December 8), the police blame only the driver of that megaload truck. Continue reading →

Watching the Real Danger

Posted on by
Reply

Jacki Vorhees, Moscow

Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/13/11

Question: Where was the Moscow Police Department Tuesday night when the megaload accident happened, and could their presence have helped prevent this accident?

Wait a minute. Didn’t Chief David Duke say the MPD was only able to help (because of resources) on Thursday evenings? Maybe some of the cops who hang out watching those rascally protesters on Washington Street, no matter what night the megaloads run, would be better utilized watching the real danger.

Van Was No Match for Megaload

Posted on by
Reply

Moscow man says he’s disappointed hauler and ISP have ‘minimized’ accident

James Urquidez looks over the damage to his van after being involved in an accident with a large load near Moscow (The Lewiston Tribune/Steve Hanks photo).

MOSCOW – James Urquidez obeyed his first instinct when he realized a megaload was coming right for his head: duck.

“When I realized he wasn’t going to make it, it was too late to do anything else,” Urquidez said Monday.

Last Tuesday night, Urquidez was waiting with several other vehicles on U.S. Highway 95 just south of Moscow for three giant Imperial Oil shipments of refining equipment to pass. One of the megaloads, which was supposed to wait in a staging area, struck Urquidez’s 1996 Chevrolet Astrovan on the upper driver’s side. Continue reading →

ITD Suspends Megaload Movement from Lewiston

Posted on by
Reply

The Idaho Transportation Department suspended the mega load shipments from the Port of Lewiston.

LEWISTON, ID – The Idaho Transportation Department suspended the mega load shipments from the Port of Lewiston.

The move comes after a collision involving one of the Imperial Oil refinery modules.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports the suspension includes three shipments that were scheduled to travel on Wednesday. Idaho State Police said Tuesday’s collision involved one of three shipments that left the port Tuesday night. ISP said they were supposed to stop at a staging area near Moscow, but one driver tried to leave before southbound traffic was released. Police said the module struck a van, causing severe damage, and pushed it into another vehicle.

An Imperial Oil spokesman said the company will keep its shipments suspended until it’s confident something like that won’t happen again. The modules are bound for Canada.

View video with photos: ITD Suspends Megaload Movement from Lewiston

(By Nate Kuester, KLEW TV)

Idaho Suspends Megaload Shipments after Crash

Posted on by
Reply

MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho Transportation Department is suspending shipments of Imperial Oil refinery equipment from the Port of Lewiston after a collision involving one of the equipment modules.

The suspension includes three shipments that were scheduled to travel Wednesday, department spokesman Adam Rush said in an emailed statement.

Idaho State Police Capt. Lonnie Richardson said Tuesday’s collision involved one of three shipments that left the port Tuesday night. The shipments were supposed to stop at a staging area on U.S. Highway 95 before traveling through Moscow in a convoy, but one driver tried to leave before southbound traffic was released, Richardson told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The module hit a van, causing severe damage and pushing that van into another vehicle. No one was injured, Richardson said.

Read more: Idaho Suspends Megaload Shipments after Crash

(By the Associated Press, The Missoulian)

(Link provided by Linwood Laughy)

ITD Suspends Megaload Shipments after Crash South of Moscow

Posted on by
Reply

The Idaho Transportation Department has suspended the ongoing Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil megaload shipments after a crash south of Moscow on U.S. Highway 95, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports. One of the giant loads of oilfield equipment bound for the Alberta oil sands crashed into a van, causing severe damage and pushing the van into another vehicle; however, no injuries were reported. “This was clearly driver error,” Idaho State Police Capt. Lonnie Richardson told the Daily News. Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser told the Moscow newspaper the company “won’t move until we’re confident this won’t happen again.” Click below for a full report from the Associated Press and the Daily News.

(By Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise, The Spokesman-Review)

(Link provided by Linwood Laughy)

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

Posted on by
Reply

In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing, concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process.

The findings by the Environmental Protection Agency come partway through a separate national study by the agency to determine whether fracking presents a risk to water resources.

In the 121-page draft report released today, EPA officials said that the contamination near the town of Pavillion, Wyo., had most likely seeped up from gas wells and contained at least 10 compounds known to be used in frack fluids.

Access the entire story with graphics, video, photos, and links at:

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

(By Abrahm Lustgarten and Nicholas Kusnetz, ProPublica)

Megaload Accident (with photos)

Posted on by
Reply

A mega-load driver is to blame for an accident Tuesday night that damaged two vehicles.

LEWISTON, ID – Idaho State Police say just before 9:45 a Mammoet driver destined for Canada got confused in the staging area south of Moscow on U.S. 95. Instead of stopping, he continued through the area and hit a van that was stopped for the staging. The van was pushed into the vehicle behind it. No one was injured. ISP said the accident was caused only by driver error. It’s not yet been decided if the driver will be charged. The other two loads in the same convoy continued north.

View video with photos: Megaload Accident

(By Tracci Dial, KLEW TV)

(Link provided by Linwood Laughy)