Category Archives: Anti-Tar Sands Megaloads Protests

As Eco-Terrorism Wanes, Governments Still Target Activist Groups Seen as Threat

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…The police chief in Moscow, Idaho, said in an interview that he discussed with FBI agents the repeated protests aimed at blocking the shipment of equipment ExxonMobil and other firms are using to extract heavy crude in Canada’s oil sands.

Some say the broad definition of domestic terrorism the FBI uses contributes to the number of investigations.  According to its 2002-05 terrorism report, “A terrorist incident is a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

As a result, any act aimed to intimidate an individual or corporation that has a political or social goal qualifies…

Read more: As Eco-Terrorism Wanes, Governments Still Target Activist Groups Seen as Threat

(By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post)

Yost Charged with Two Misdemeanors for Throwing Cardboard Sign at Rear of 415,000-Pound Megaload, Air-Kicking in Direction of Officer

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On Thursday, March 8, Moscow City Police Lieutenant Paul Kwiatkowski served two misdemeanor charges to Helen Yost for “throwing…a two-by-three-foot sign…at a vehicle traveling on a highway” and for “willfully attempt[ing] to kick…a peace officer…while he was walking away” at the final megaload protest in Moscow, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 6.  Listen to between 14:56 and 6:35 of the Thursday, March 8, Evening Report, Sign Throwing Charge, on KRFP Radio Free Moscow for an interview and discussion of Yost Charged with Two Misdemeanors for Throwing Cardboard Sign at Rear of 415,000-Pound Megaload, Air-Kicking in Direction of Officer.

Megaload Protesters Get in Their Final Shots

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Helen Yost, of Wild Idaho Rising Tide, holds her sign protesting the megaloads’ use of U.S. Highway 95 through Moscow (The Lewiston Tribune/David Johnson photo).

Last of the big rigs moves through the mean streets of Moscow

MOSCOW – Helen Yost, the fiery spokeswoman for the activist group Wild Idaho Rising Tide, said she absolutely had to have the last word.

So, as the last Imperial Oil megaload exited this Latah County town late Tuesday night en route to the Kearl Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada, Yost broke ranks from about 45 demonstrators standing on the sidewalk and dashed into the street.

“I was swarmed by cops, but they didn’t touch me,” Yost said, recalling how she threw a protest sign and struck the back end of the final behemoth load. “I quickly retreated back, but I had made my statement. I hit the megaload.” Continue reading →

Megaloads Head North on 95; Foes Claim Victory

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As 45 protesters escort two oversized shipments through Moscow, Kooskia-area couple celebrate

Megaload opponents claimed a win Tuesday as the last two Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil oversized shipments left Lewiston and headed through Moscow on U.S. Highway 95.

About 45 protesters, and nearly as many law enforcement officers, ushered the megaloads through Moscow without incident Tuesday night. [Editor’s note: Moscow police issued two misdemeanors on Thursday for two protester incidents.]

Ordinary citizens of Idaho and Montana have successfully challenged an attempt to turn U.S. Highway 12 into a permanent high-and-wide-transport corridor, Borg Hendrickson wrote in an email Tuesday. “Is this outcome a victory for the Davids of the world, the ‘little’ people? Absolutely. Is the battle over? Probably not.”

Hendrickson and her husband, Linwood Laughy of the Kooskia area, spearheaded an effort to block megaloads on U.S. 12, which is adjacent to their home along the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River. Continue reading →

Two Arrested in Idaho for Attempting to Block Passage of Tar Sands Equipment

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Two people were arrested in Moscow, Idaho, late Sunday night after they attempted to stop the passage of megaload trucks carrying oil company equipment to the Canadian tar sands.  Activists said the two were arrested after they linked arms and sat down in the street in an attempt to block the trucks.  Sunday’s action was one of dozens spurred by the passage through Moscow of shipments carrying oil-related equipment to the tar sands.

Watch Amy Goodman’s news report between 10:58 and 11:27: Two Arrested in Idaho for Attempting to Block Passage of Tar Sands Equipment

(By Democracy Now!)

(Link provided by Prairie Thunder Wolfe: “Holy Shit!!!  Wild Idaho Rising Tide finally made Democracy Now!!!!!  We have been waiting for sooooo long for DN! to recognize our struggles against the megaloads!  Way to go, WIRT!”)

Last Megaloads Leaving Port of Lewiston for Canada

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LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — The final two oversized loads of oil field equipment at the Port of Lewiston were set to be shipped out 18 months after the first massive Korean-built equipment arrived by barge via the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Imperial Oil moved three loads on Sunday and planned to move two more late Tuesday, weather permitting, company spokesman Pius Rolheiser said.

“There will still be some additional loads coming out of the port, but they’ll be legal loads on conventional trailers as opposed to these over-legal loads on hydraulic trailers,” Rolheiser told the Missoulian.

Rolheiser estimated the company has 100 loads remaining at the Port of Pasco in Washington, which also will travel Interstates 90 and 15 through Montana.

Read more: Last Megaloads Leaving Port of Lewiston for Canada

(By The Associated Press, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Moscow-Pullman Daily News)

Police Arrest Two Imperial Shipment Protesters Sunday, Last Shipment Slated for Tonight

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Moscow Police arrested two Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil protesters for refusing to leave the roadway at Washington and Fourth streets as a convoy of three shipments of refinery modules attempted to pass through the city.

Moscow Police Chief David Duke said James Prall, 67, and Cass Davis, 47, both of Moscow, were arrested after they were removed a second time from the road around 11 p.m. They were first removed and warned about obstructing the travel of three shipments, but then returned to the roadway where they sat down and linked arms, he said, adding two women were also removed from the roadway. They did not return, however, and so they were not arrested. Continue reading →

Imperial/Exxon Ends Big Rig Shipments for the Time Being

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A major chapter in the megaload saga in the Northern Rockies is drawing to a close.

Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil said Monday it’ll start the final two over-legal loads remaining at the Port of Lewiston in Idaho on the road to the Kearl Oil Sands in Alberta on Tuesday night, weather permitting.

The first of 34 immense loads arrived at Lewiston by barge via the Columbia and Snake rivers in the fall of 2010, but were stranded there by legal protests and an environmental review process in Montana.

Imperial/Exxon ultimately opted to reduce the size of the original loads and ship them via interstate rather than the proposed two-lane routes of Highway 12 and Highway 200.  Those shipments began last summer, and the final two megaloads will follow the same route that their roughly 65 predecessors took: from Lewiston north to Coeur d’Alene on Highway 95, then to and through western Montana on Interstate 90 and Interstate 15 on subsequent nights.

Read more: Imperial/Exxon Ends Big Rig Shipments for the Time Being

(By Kim Briggeman, Missoulian)

Megaload Protesters Arrested Sunday Make Innocent Pleas

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MOSCOW – Two Moscow men pleaded innocent to misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer after they allegedly attempted to block three megaloads traveling through their city.

Police Chief David Duke said officers arrested Cass Davis, 47, and James Prall, 67, Sunday night after they re-entered the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 95 in Moscow shortly after 11 p.m.

Four protesters – Davis, Prall, and two women – initially entered the roadway in an effort to block the giant Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil refinery equipment modules headed for a tar sands oil extraction project in Canada, Duke said. Continue reading →

Four Pile into Street to Stop 865,000 Pounds of Megaloads, Two Arrested

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Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) activists blocked three colossal tar sands “megaloads” when they linked arms and sat together on Washington Street in Moscow, Idaho, on Sunday, March Fourth!  Listen to between 26:10 and 13:18 of the Monday, March 5, Evening Report, Two Megaload Blockers Arrested, on KRFP Radio Free Moscow, for announcements of the last passage of these shipments in Two Final Megaloads from Lewiston Due Tuesday Night and for on-the-scene reportage of the WIRT protest, civil disobedience, and subsequent arrests in Four Pile into Street to Stop 865,000 Pounds of Megaloads, Two Arrested.