As promised, about 20 protesters gathered on a toe-numbing Sunday night and waited for the first of three “megaloads” to leave the Port of Umatilla, hauling massive refinery equipment into the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.

Yet the shipment never budged, sitting under towering floodlights, while workers with the Hillsboro-based Omega Morgan continued to prepare the oversized transport for its first leg south through Hermiston and east into Pendleton.

Climate activists oppose providing a route on Oregon highways for a vessel they said will contribute to increased carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.  Jim Powers of Albany also said the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) rushed to permit the project without enough public process. Continue reading →