Author Archives: WIRT

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About WIRT

The WIRT collective is part of an international, grassroots network of groups and individuals who take direct action to confront the root causes of climate change and to promote local, community-based solutions to the climate crisis.

ITD Gives Megaloads Green Light

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The protocol for Imperial Oil megaloads on U.S. Highway 95 changed this week as the shipments received the green light from the Idaho Transportation Department to resume travel.

ITD temporarily suspended permission for the loads to travel after an accident Dec. 6 south of Moscow on Highway 95. Three rigs, including the one involved in the accident, would have been allowed to go Thursday, but they were postponed to an undetermined date because of weather.

When they hit the road, a pilot vehicle will be placed in front of the lead load before it leaves the staging area about a mile south of Moscow, where the rigs create a convoy before entering the city, according to a report from ITD and the Idaho State Police. Continue reading →

Keeping Megaloads Moving: The Latest on Last Week’s Non-Injury Accident

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The plan you see here was released today by the Idaho Transportation Department.

It outlines what steps will be taken to prevent a repeat of last week’s non-inury collision on U.S. Highway 95 involving a megaload.

The story I’m writing for Friday’s paper will have even more information about how ITD, Imperial Oil, and Mammoet, the oil company’s hired hauler, are handling the accident.

Idaho Transportation Department Report

(By Elaine Williams The Lewiston Tribune)

U.S. 95 ExxonMobil Tar Sands Shipments Scheduled for Tonight Postponed & Westbound U.S. 12 Megaload Scheduled for Tomorrow Night

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Lend an ear to news about the weather-influenced cancellation of the first Imperial Oil megaloads to move after their December 6 collision on Highway 95 and subsequent revision of their hauler Mammoet’s transportation plan as well as a description of the transport schedule, route, and dimensions of an oversize hydroelectric plant pipe built by Selway Corporation and transported to Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, in U.S. 95 ExxonMobil Tar Sands Shipments Scheduled for Tonight Postponed and Westbound U.S. 12 Megaload Scheduled for Tomorrow Night between 13:08 and 10:39 on the KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, U.S. 95, on Thursday, December 15, at http://radiofreemoscow.org/2011/12/20111215/.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)