Call Omega Morgan CEO John McCalla at 503-647-7474 now with a message: I oppose tar sands mining, and I want you to stop shipping equipment to process it.

Big Oil has been moving massive equipment for a tar sands oil development in western Canada.  The “megaload” shipments have been challenged in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, and now eastern Oregon.

Climate activists object to the shipments for their potential to worsen climate change, and tribal members say they’re worried about the possibility of environmental damage in eastern Oregon, where they assert a treaty interest and say they weren’t adequately consulted.

Last week, three people were arrested while blockading these megaload shipments near Umatilla, Oregon.  More blockades are expected this week, and we’re calling on people from all over North America to help us tell shipping company Omega Morgan to stop shipping the tar sands megaloads. Continue reading →

The megaload debate changed rapidly this week…

For a while, we were talking about the big rigs: if they were safe to travel over Eastern Oregon’s notoriously dangerous winter roads and if local citizens had been given the opportunity to voice their feelings on the matter.

Then came Sunday night, when a group of protesters from the region disrupted the megaload’s travel.  Two people were arrested after chaining themselves to the truck.  Others chanted in favor of those who were arrested and charged with misdemeanors, and jeered the company’s employees and contractors for their role in harming the environment.  Climate activists protested transporting the 300,000-pound water purification equipment for environmental reasons.

The focus of the debate changed quickly.  Instead of wrestling with the idea of transportation plans or even the big picture consideration of tar sands oil extraction, many were debating the protesters themselves.  Were they within their rights to disrupt the machine’s travel as a form of non-violent rebellion, or did they go overboard and show themselves to be anarchists who don’t care what innocent people they harm in their war on the status quo? Continue reading →

Law enforcement officers carry Cathy Sampson-Kruse to a patrol car, before placing her under arrest for disorderly conduct on Monday at the Port of Umatilla. Sampson-Kruse laid down in front of the megaload truck, in an attempt to prevent its departure. The megaload is currently stalled on Highway 395 south of Pendleton by weather (Hermiston Herald/Colin Murphey photo).

Three protesters arrested on Sunday and Monday

Protesters opposing the transportation of oil refinery equipment to Canada gained momentum Sunday night and then lost ground Monday night, as the megaload departed from the Port of Umatilla and inched its way through Hermiston.

Three protesters attempting to block progress of the nearly 400-foot-long rig bound for tar sand sites in Alberta, Canada, were arrested on Sunday and Monday nights.  Approximately 40 demonstrators gathered on Sunday to protest the movement of megaloads through Oregon.  Kayla Godowa-Tufti of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs said she came to the site because tribal rights were being violated.

“This permit was granted without a government-to-government consultation as required by law,” Godowa-Tufti said.  “The State of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is required by law to consult with tribes.  The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have not been consulted.  These things threaten areas that are dear to us.  We don’t want this to be a permanent highway for these things.”

After being delayed twice before, the megaload, carried by heavy-haul specialists Omega Morgan of Hillsboro, was scheduled to depart on Sunday night between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am, according to the permit granted by ODOT.  As the truck hauling the megaload prepared to depart around 10 pm, the crowd of protesters surged forward toward law enforcement officers.  The group huddled together, chanting “We don’t want your megaloads,” before being asked by law enforcement to move off the property.  The group acquiesced to that request before resuming their former position on the road.  Whether the timing was intentional or not, the surge forward gave two protesters time to lock themselves to the truck. Continue reading →

A protester raises his fist in the air after learning that Omega Morgan has called off moving the megaload on Sunday at the Port of Umatilla, Oregon (Associated Press photo).

Protesters locked themselves to a transport rig bearing a 450-ton piece of oil refinery equipment and blocked its departure on Sunday night from the Port of Umatilla.

It was bound for a tar sands oil development in western Canada.  Environmentalists object to the shipment for its potential to worsen global warming, and tribal members say they’re worried about the possibility of environmental damage in eastern Oregon, where they assert a treaty interest and say they weren’t adequately consulted.

Two protesters were arrested after they used heavy steel tubes to lock themselves to the truck, the East Oregonian reported.  It took police two hours to remove the men, and by the time they finished, it was 11:30 pm.

Because it blocks traffic, the 380-foot-long megaload is allowed to move only at night, mainly on U.S. Highways 395 and 26 through sparsely populated parts of eastern Oregon.

A crowd estimated at about 50 environmentalists and tribal members had gathered at the port. Continue reading →

On Monday, December 2, 2013, light brigade action team protesters Rod Lyman and Kathy Leathers of Bellingham, Washington, hold up signs, as a megaload slowly passes by on Highway 395 in Hermiston, Oregon. The transport rig carries a 450-ton piece of equipment bound for a tar sands development site in western Canada (Associated Press/E.J. Harris photo).

On Monday, December 2, 2013, a megaload slowly moves south on Highway 395 through Hermiston, Oregon. The transport rig carries a 450-ton piece of equipment bound for a tar sands development site in western Canada (Associated Press/E.J. Harris photo).

Fighting repeated delays and protests, the first of three controversial “megaloads” finally left the Port of Umatilla Monday night with massive equipment bound for the oil sands of Alberta, Canada.

The shipment was scheduled to leave Sunday, but climate activists from across the Northwest effectively blocked its path during an active demonstration inside the port industrial park.

Two protesters – Leonard George Higgins, 61, and Arnold George Schroder, 35 – were arrested after they locked themselves onto the enormous rig using a heavy steel tubes known as “black bears.” It took police two hours to remove the men, and by the time they finished it was 11:30 p.m.

Higgins and Schroder were booked into the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and released Monday. But the action lasted long enough for industrial transporter Omega Morgan to stall the first leg of its route through Hermiston.

The megaload was also delayed a week ago, when the company said it took longer than expected to secure the vessel onto trucks. It was permitted by the Oregon Department of Transportation to leave as early as November 24, but the company decided to wait until after Thanksgiving weekend. Continue reading →

Climate activists won the night Sunday, effectively stalling the first of three controversial “megaloads” from leaving the Port of Umatilla on schedule.

Two protesters were arrested after they locked themselves onto the side and underneath the truck hauling massive equipment to the oil fields in Canada. It took police two hours to remove the men, and by the time they finished it was 11:30 p.m.

About 50 people representing grassroots environmental groups, as well as the local Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, arrived late Sunday to speak out against the megaloads and industrial transporter Omega Morgan.

Once the shipment appeared ready to hit the road, the group crossed into the lot carrying signs and chanting, “No tar sands on tribal lands!” The two protesters were then able to lock onto the truck using heavy steel tubes known as “black bears.”

Officers moved most people back across the property boundary while they worked to detach and arrest the men. But it was later announced shortly before midnight the megaload would not move. Continue reading →