Category Archives: News

ExxonMobil Announces Wednesday Night U.S. 95 Tar Sands Shipments

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This KRFP Radio Free Moscow news chronicles the changed holiday schedule of Imperial Oil megaload traffic through Moscow, announcing the unexpected first run on Wednesday, December 21, since a smaller module struck a mini-van pulled over by a flagger on Highway 95.  Helen Yost of Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) also provides extensive explanations of the premature resumption of module movements, their observed and inherent dangers, and likely increases in such transports on Highways 12, 95, and 395 toward Alberta’s dirty energy extraction boom.  Listeners can additionally learn about Winter Solstice opportunities for monitoring and protesting these tar sands shipments with WIRT activists.  Check out ExxonMobil Announces Wednesday Night U.S. 95 Tar Sands Shipments between 18:30 and 8:25 of the Tuesday, December 20, Evening Report, Hawkins Considers Moscow, at http://radiofreemoscow.org/2011/12/20111221/.

Megaload Cyclist Expects to Take Plea Deal Down to an Infraction, Selway Corporation Transport Passage, & Port of Lewiston Spends Much of Its Megaload Revenue on Security

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Co-defendants Zach Johnson and Aaron Malgren, arrested on October 6 while participating in the Bikes Not Bitumen! critical mass bike ride during ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil tar sands shipments through Moscow, describe developments in their court case against police and prosecutors who imposed wrongful charges of obstructing and resisting officers and held their bikes for evidence over two months.  Probably due to the implausibility of prosecutors’ arguments, Aaron and Zach were offered three plea bargain choices of infractions to replace their misdemeanor charges.  This broadcast also covers the two movements of a huge Selway Corporation Y-shaped pipe westbound on Highway 12 between the Montana border and Lewiston on Friday night and, on Monday evening, onward to Highway 195 and Snoqualmie Falls, Washington.  Additionally, the Port of Lewiston spent 80 percent of its revenue from yard storage of ExxonMobil modules on security officers during its July 2010 to June 2011 fiscal year.  Listen to more news about Megaload Cyclist Expects to Take Plea Deal Down to an Infraction, Selway Corporation transport passage, and Port of Lewiston Spends Much of Its Megaload Revenue on Security between 16:11 and 5:43 on the Monday, December 19, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Bike Plea Bargain.

U.S. 12 Business Owners Question Lack of ISP Escort for Upcoming Megaloads & Exxon Hauler Mammoet Pays Moscow $20,000 for Police Overtime Protecting Tar Sands Shipments

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Anti-megaload activist Borg Hendrickson questioned the safety of overlegal Imperial Oil tar sands shipments on U.S. Highway 12 without Idaho State Police escorts, considering the confusing conditions of Imperial Oil/Mammoet transports that caused two recent Highway 95 collisions and of a Weyerhaeuser/Nickel Brothers half-hour delay of a heart-attack victim carried by private vehicle on Highway 287 to the Choteau, Montana, hospital.  She noted that the Idaho Transportation Department allows endless revisions of megaload companies’ traffic management plans after accidents that damage private and public property, but the agency never permanently denies permits after cumulative problems arise.  Imperial Oil’s subsequent resumption of module travel on Highway 95 after the December 6 crash did not provide the public or press with ample time or copies of safety plan changes to review the outcomes of Mammoet’s internal report on failed safety procedures and the Idaho State Police collision investigation that is compromised by conflicted Mammoet/public payments of trooper salaries.  Moscow city police also received $20,000 of ongoing reimbursement for overtime hours spent patrolling megaload protests and crowds that precipitated eight arrests between mid-July and November 1.  Latah County sheriffs have not received similar payment responses to their invoices sent to the Imperial Oil contractor Mammoet.  For more information, listen to U.S. 12 Business Owners Question Lack of ISP Escort for Upcoming Megaloads and Exxon Hauler Mammoet Pays Moscow $20,000 for Police Overtime Protecting Tar Sands Shipments between 20:25 and 11:07 on the KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Mammoet Pays for Police, on Friday, December 16, at http://radiofreemoscow.org/2011/12/20111216/.

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.

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)