The megaload made it to Dale, midway between Pendleton and Mount Vernon, on Wednesday night, but has been stopped again by icy conditions and a snowy weather forecast.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) says the load could remain parked beside Highway 395 at Dale, until the weather allows it to travel again – perhaps Friday.

The load is allowed to move only at night.

ODOT earlier said that Omega Morgan, the hauling company, planned to take the load as far south as Mount Vernon on Wednesday night.  The agency now says that if the load can roll again on Friday evening, it could reach Mount Vernon by Saturday morning, and go through John Day that night. Continue reading →

The first of three so-called “megaloads” continued its eastern Oregon road trip overnight on Tuesday, leaving Pendleton shortly after 9 pm and traveling about 50 miles south on Highway 395.

The massive shipment of tar sands equipment destined for Alberta, Canada, arrived near Ukiah early on Wednesday morning.  From there, it is scheduled to head farther south into Mount Vernon and east through John Day, before heading east on Highway 26 and crossing state lines into southern Idaho. Continue reading →

CTUIR Chair Burke Megaloads Letter to Governor Kitzhaber

Megaload shipments through Eastern Oregon and Idaho received another blow this week in the form of a strongly worded letter from the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), stating concern over the impacts of megaloads and tar sands mining.

In the letter sent Monday, the newly elected Umatilla Chair of the Board of Trustees Gary Burke explains, “First, ODOT [Oregon Department of Transportation] did not adequately consult with the CTUIR on a government-to-government level prior to issuing the [megaload] permit.  Second, the CTUIR has strong concerns regarding the potential long-term and indirect impacts to the CTUIR’s interests caused by tar sands development.”

Read more: Megaload Update: Umatilla Show Solidarity Against Tar Sands

(By CTUIR tribal member x-603, Wey-ow’sux, Cathy Sampson-Kruse)

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 →