Daily Archives: February 28, 2012

Alarms Raised over Coal Train Traffic

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SANDPOINT — Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper and the Sierra Club are hosting a forum Thursday to raise awareness of a plan that could dramatically increase coal train traffic through Bonner County.

The Coal Hard Truth forum starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Little Panida Theater on First Avenue.

Opponents of the plan contend that increased coal train traffic will heighten the odds of a derailment, foul water quality with coal dust and damage air quality with diesel pollution. There is also concern that the added train traffic will slow emergency response because traffic will be halted at-grade railroad crossings to let trains through.

Featured speakers at the forum include Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, Dr. Robert Truckner, small business owner and farmer Walter Kloefkorn and Shannon Williamson, executive director of Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper.

Critics of the proposals by Arch Coal and Peabody Energy estimate as many as 40 additional trains will be coming through the community.

Read more: Alarms Raised over Coal Train Traffic

(By Keith Kinnaird, news editor, Bonner County Daily Bee)

Final Three Mega-Loads (At Least For Now) Roll Tonight

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[Website Editor’s Note: The last three Highway 95 megaloads referenced in this article actually number five and will likely depart the Port of Lewiston around March 6 to 8.]

Tonight marks a milestone in the saga of the Idaho mega-loads.

In early 2010, Boise Weekly first began telling you about ExxonMobil’s plans to haul giant rigs of oil equipment across the Pacific Ocean from South Korea, up the Columbia River, through the Port of Lewiston, and slowly across Idaho highways hugging the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers along U.S. Highway 12.

When most northern Idaho citizens first got wind of the plans in June 2010, they began pushing back, taking Big Oil and the Idaho Department of Transportation through legal tussles in front of District Courts, the Idaho Supreme Court, and lengthy ITD hearings.

Read more: Final Three Mega-Loads (At Least For Now) Roll Tonight

(By George Prentice, Boise Weekly)