Category Archives: Issues

Observer: Gas Drilling Resumes in Payette County

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Idaho’s next chapter of drilling for natural gas has begun.

The Argus Observer reports that drivers northeast of New Plymouth or east of Payette may spot flames spouting from natural gas well testing in the region.

The Observer’s Larry Meyer reports that Snake River Oil and Gas has launched “intensive testing” at three wells, to help determine production viability.  The testing is expected to last two to three weeks.

Snake River, in partnership with Alta Mesa Holdings, purchased a number of wells from Bridge Resources in 2012, after the Canadian-based company liquidated many of its assets, in the wake of financial troubles at the height of its 2011 drilling operations.

Snake River is currently testing wells purchased from Bridge Resources.  No new wells have been drilled.

Read more: Observer: Gas Drilling Resumes in Payette County

(By George Prentice, Boise Weekly)

Climate Justice Forum: David Hall 1-7-13

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On the Monday, January 7, Climate Justice Forum radio program, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) gratefully welcomes David Hall, board of directors president of the Palouse Prairie Foundation, a board member of the Palouse Water Conservation Network, 2012 Moscow Renaissance Fair King, and a core WIRT activist. David will discuss the draft environmental impact statement and technical reports recently released by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), proposing to expand and reroute U.S. Highway 95 through native Palouse Prairie remnants on Paradise Ridge south of Moscow, likely to accommodate international industrial traffic like tar sands megaloads. Broadcast on KRFP Radio Free Moscow between 7:30 and 9:30 pm PST live at 92.5 FM and online, the show also covers regional and continent-wide dirty energy developments and climate activism news. Please share your Highway 95 issue insights and resistance stories during the WIRT program, by calling the station studio at 208-892-9200. For more information about this ITD scheme, see the Highway 95 Re-Route section of the WIRT website. Thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as his KRFP DJ! Visit the station website soon to learn how you can adopt our inspiring fellow DJs.

Extra-Long Rig Moves from Idaho into Montana on U.S. Highway 12

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Idaho officials say an extra-long load traveled across U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho to the Montana border late Thursday and early Friday.

Idaho Transportation Department spokesman Adam Rush tells the Lewiston Tribune that the rig carrying a generator skid to an undisclosed destination went from the agency’s weigh station east of Lewiston to the state border in a single night of travel.

Rush says the cargo had been scheduled to move before Christmas but was delayed by weather.

The rig is 163 feet long, weighs about 250,000 pounds, and is 15 feet wide and about 16 feet tall.

(By The Missoulian/Associated Press)

Environmental Concerns Remain for U.S. 95 Project

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Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition member plans to address issues at public hearing for DEIS

The Idaho Transportation Department’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for its U.S. Highway 95 realignment project from Thorn Creek Road to Moscow is now available, and there is plenty of reading to get done prior to the January 23 public hearing.

The environmental study was required by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in 2003 when he sided with the Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition in a lawsuit against the transportation department.

The coalition claimed that highway regulators did not address concerns regarding plans to reroute that section of U.S. 95 along Paradise Ridge and the damage that might be done to Palouse prairie habitat.

Al Poplawsky, a research associate with the University of Idaho’s department of plant, soil, and entomological sciences, said he will continue to argue against a route that would affect the Palouse prairie habitat, as he did nine years ago. Continue reading →

U.S. Highway 95 Battle Resumes

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Environmental group ‘disappointed’ with latest proposal for road south of Moscow

MOSCOW – An environmental group that sued to block construction on U.S. Highway 95 south of Moscow nine years ago is ramping up to oppose the latest version of the project.

“We’re certainly disappointed that they’re still going with an eastern alternative,” said Al Poplawsky, who served as the treasurer of the Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition during its lawsuit against the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and the Federal Highway Administration.  “We were hoping otherwise.”

In 2003, the coalition joined with the Palouse Group of the Sierra Club and the Idaho Conservation League to secure an injunction from U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, which forced the transportation department to complete a lengthy environmental impact review process.

The transportation department released a draft of the environmental impact statement this week that calls for an eastern route for the highway that crosses the western shoulder of scenic Paradise Ridge near Moscow.  The study analyzed 11 potential routes in three corridors: western, central, and eastern.

A similar proposed route triggered the 2003 lawsuit, with wildlife concerns, protection of native Palouse prairie, wetland preservation, urban sprawl, and climate-related safety questions in a list of objections. Continue reading →

Oversized Load Crosses North Central Idaho in One Night

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An extra-long load traveled on U.S. Highway 12 in north central Idaho late Thursday and early Friday.

The rig, carrying a generator skid to an undisclosed destination, went from an Idaho Transportation Department weigh station just east of Lewiston to the Montana border in a single night of travel, said Adam Rush, a Boise spokesman for the agency.

The cargo had originally been scheduled to move the week before Christmas but was delayed by weather.  It weighed close to 250,000 pounds, was about 15 feet wide, 16 1/2 feet tall, and 163 feet long, according to the transportation department. Continue reading →

Senator Schmidt & Representative Ringo Give Legislative Preview on U.S. Highway 95 Alignment

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Listen to Senator Schmidt and Representative Ringo Give Legislative Preview Part 3, aired by KRFP Radio Free Moscow between 18:58 and 9:35 of the Friday, January 4, 2013, Evening Report, Vendors Fee, to hear about Highway 95 rerouting issues and associated industrial transportation and port decisions addressed by the Idaho and federal transportation agencies and the Idaho Legislature in the upcoming 2013 session.

ITD Releases Draft EIS on Proposed Routes for Widening U.S. 95

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Hear about the potential environmental, economic, and safety consequences of various re-rerouting alternatives considered in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) compiled by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), detailed in the news story ITD Releases Draft EIS on Proposed Routes for Widening U.S. 95 between 20:05 and 10:25 of the Monday, December 31, 2012, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report entitled ITD Draft EIS on U.S. 95 Widening.

Safety and the Law

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Al Poplawsky, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/29/12

The release of the draft environmental impact statement for relocation of U.S. Highway 95 south of Moscow is imminent, and the preferred alternative is the same, old, problematic, eastern route over the shoulder of Paradise Ridge.

A recent editorial in this paper (Daily News, December 13) erroneously referred to the first document for this project as an environmental impact statement (EIS).  However, it was actually an environmental assessment (EA) – a much less thorough study and document.  The law is clear that an EIS is required for the relocation of a highway to a divided highway.  The attempt of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) to push this project through without an EIS was a blatant attempt at violation of the law.

Environmentalists have been blamed for the deaths and injuries that have occurred on this stretch of Highway 95 since the favorable ruling in their lawsuit.  However, we were just trying to uphold the law.  We have laws for a reason.  Those who criticize us for our efforts are advocating for the breaking of our laws.  If the majority of us think a law should be changed, then maybe it should be.  But we should not advocate for the breaking of laws that are on the books. Continue reading →

Fix Existing U.S. 95

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David Hall, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/22/12

The original report that the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) produced was an environmental assessment (EA), not an improperly done draft environmental impact statement (EIS) as stated in the Daily News’ editorial on December 13.  An EA is a much less rigorous review than an EIS, which the court ordered.

Safety is the largest issue here and the supposed reason for the realignment/upgrade.  It has not been shown to my satisfaction that the eastern alignment would be safer than, or even as safe as, the other alignment options.  There is quite a bit of testimony that there is increased snow, fog, and other hazardous weather and driving conditions on the shoulder of Paradise Ridge compared to the existing route.  In addition, the eastern alignment might require deer/elk/moose fencing to attempt to keep game off the highway.

With safety of the driving public of primary importance, why has the Idaho Transportation Department done nothing in the past ten years to improve safety along the existing HIghway 95 route?  I am sure there are things that ITD could have done – reducing the speed limits, placing warning signs, and probably some localized realignments.  It makes so much more sense to fix the existing route than to plow through a new area. Continue reading →