The first of three scheduled “megaloads” through eastern Oregon is back on the road, as daytime temperatures rose to near 40 degrees on Tuesday in Pendleton.

Omega Morgan, the Hillsboro-based trucking company hired to move the load, made the call after 9 pm to continue on its route south over Battle Mountain Pass toward Ukiah.  The massive shipment of tar sands equipment bound for Canada had been stalled since December 3, due to snow and ice.

The 22-foot-wide, 380-foot-long load is only permitted to move at night, and only when driving conditions are clear, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).  Regional spokesman Tom Strandberg said crews assessed the route to make sure it was safe to travel. Continue reading →

Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) says the megaload could move tonight, weather permitting.

The load has been parked at the south edge of Pendleton since last week, due to icy road conditions.  Officials say Omega Morgan is planning to move the load south toward Ukiah tonight.  The load is allowed to move only between 8 pm and 6 am, to limit traffic impacts.

If conditions allow, the load would move on Wednesday night to Mount Vernon, and on Thursday night through John Day and Prairie City to Austin Junction.

ODOT said the load could reach John Day by 9 or 10 pm on Thursday.

All moves are weather-dependent, however.

An Omega Morgan spokeswoman said company crews monitor the conditions each night, to make the call on whether to move.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a 30 percent chance of snow on Thursday in John Day, with snow likely Thursday night.

Friday’s forecast calls for a slight chance of rain and snow, as temperatures rise above freezing.

(By the Blue Mountain Eagle)

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 →