City of Moscow Mammoet Megaload Meeting 1-15-13 (January 16 Wild Idaho Rising Tide photos)

On Wednesday, January 15, from 3 to 5 pm, during most people’s working hours, the City of Moscow, Idaho, held an “open” public meeting about three Mammoet-hauled oversize loads proposed for Highway 95 and Interstate 90 passage.  Moscow, Latah County, Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), local and state law enforcement, Mammoet, and other officials participated in the information-sharing session in the downtown Moscow City Hall Council Chambers.  New Mayor Bill Lambert facilitated the discussion that primarily posed questions to ITD, Mammoet, and police representatives and viewed a brief Mammoet slide show about the venture.

Although the city sought written community input prior to the “hearing,” it disallowed opportunities for direct engagement through verbal public testimony and queries.  Two Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) activists re-asserted some direct democracy among the corporate lackeys, decrying this instance of lack of public involvement by occupying the front row near the chambers door, with mouths covered with tape reading “No Tar Sands” and with protest signs declaring “Stop Tar Sands,” “Idaho Says No! to Dirty Energy,” and “Wild Idaho Rising Tide Stands in Solidarity with ACFN” (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation).

Most of the seventeen participants invited to the table from as far as Boise expressed concerns about possible infrastructure damages and traveler safety risks imposed by the widest (27 feet), longest (441 feet), and heaviest (1.6 million pounds!) ever proposed overlegal loads to traverse Moscow by late January.  Few seemed aware that these megaloads are the key components for the Calumet-owned Montana Refining Company in Great Falls, Montana, to triple its production of tar sands oil by early 2016.  Most of the officials noted that they had not received compiled public comments and questions early enough before the meeting to address them.

For more information about this impending megaload invasion and associated, compromised public processes, see the following and forthcoming WIRT and media news accounts.

WIRT Newsletter: Wednesday Hearing/Action and Public Records/News about Tar Sands Refinery Megaloads (January 14 Wild Idaho Rising Tide)

Moscow to Host Public Workshop with ITD, Mammoet, and Law Enforcement on 1.6 Million Pound Megaloads Wednesday at 3 pm; Questions Only in Advance (January 14 KRFP Evening Report)

Report and interview starting at 13:07

City Hosts Megaload Meeting, Public Out of Dialogue (January 15 KRFP Evening Report)

Report and meeting recording starting at 36:48

Mega Concern (January 16 Moscow-Pullman Daily News)

Workshop on Oversized Loads Anticipated to Travel through Moscow (January 16 Moscow Cares videos and photos)

Mammoet Plans to Haul Super-Sized Megaload at Very Slow Rate on U.S. 95 (January 16 KRFP Evening Report)

Report starting at 7:42

Mammoet Megaload Concerns Voiced at Public Meeting in Moscow (January 17 KLEW TV)