ITD, National Forests Chief Discuss Future of Megaloads

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Parties agree to work on memorandum of understanding covering oversize loads on U.S. 12.

Officials from the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) met with Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell in Grangeville on Monday to discuss megaloads and the future of the massive cargo shipments along U.S. Highway 12 as it passes through the forest.

Last month, Brazell sent a letter to ITD Chief Deputy Scott Stokes, outlining what he called interim criteria to deal with the shipment of massively oversized loads through the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River and Lochsa River Wild and Scenic River Corridor.

According to the criteria, Brazell and the Forest Service won’t support any loads that require traffic to be stopped to facilitate passage, those that can’t make it through the corridor in 12 hours or less, and those that would require the physical modification of the roadway or adjacent vegetation.

Stokes and ITD Chief of Operations Jim Carpenter flew into Grangeville for a 75-minute meeting and, according to Brazell, agreed the two agencies should work on a memorandum of understanding that covers a number of highway operations, including megaloads. Continue reading →

Gas Exploration Benefits Southwest Idaho Farmers

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Snake River Oil and Gas officials explain details of gas exploration in southwest Idaho last fall, during a legislative tour. Many farmers and ranchers stand to benefit from the drilling and exploration taking place in the region (Capital Press/industry photo).

Snake River Oil and Gas officials explain details of gas exploration in southwest Idaho last fall, during a legislative tour. Many farmers and ranchers stand to benefit from the drilling and exploration taking place in the region (Capital Press/industry photo).

Now that seismic testing has proven what folks in this area have known for decades – there is a substantial amount of natural gas below them – farmers, ranchers, and other landowners in this region are beginning to reap the benefits.

“You talk to any farmer or rancher whose family has been over there for a couple of generations, and everybody has stories of methane in their well water or bubbling up from a creek,” John Foster, a spokesman for the Idaho Petroleum Council, said.

While it’s been clear for many years that there is natural gas in that area of southwest Idaho, the infrastructure never existed to retrieve and transport it to market economically.  But a major seismic exploration project by Snake River Oil and Gas last year is changing that.

The company says there are substantial natural gas deposits in an area known as a “play” that stretches from part of Canyon County through New Plymouth, Fruitland, and Payette in Payette County, and up into Weiser in Washington County.

It’s is beginning to drill wells, and the gas will be transferred via a major, multi-state, gas pipeline that passes near New Plymouth.

Read more: Gas Exploration Benefits Southwest Idaho Farmers

(By Sean Ellis, Capital Press)

Protester Arraignments, Coal Port Hearing and Demonstration

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Spokane Coal Export Activists’ Arraignments

Over the next week, Tony Dellwo and Ziggy face arraignment hearings on second degree criminal trespass charges for walking toward the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad bridge over North Division Street near Sprague Avenue, during the Fearless Summer: Coal Export Sacrifice Zone Uprising in Spokane, Washington, on Thursday, June 27.  During rush-hour traffic on North Division Street in Spokane on that evening, over 20 people waved protest signs to denounce Northwest coal export and increased fossil fuel rail traffic through northern Idaho and Spokane.  Seeking higher activist visibility on the bridge temporarily blocked by a loaded coal train, Tony and Ziggy noted that they did not see “No Trespassing” signs posted near the BNSF tracks and that they received no warnings to leave the area before BNSF patrols cited them.  Even when both defendants offered to leave the railroad tracks, BNSF personnel ordered them back onto the coal export route.  Moreover, BNSF officers touched one of the activists’ pants two or three times, while inquiring about identification documents, an illegal action forbidden more strictly under Washington codes than by federal laws.  In response to these improprieties, Tony and Ziggy are considering possible counter-lawsuits against BNSF.  Meanwhile, Tony will appear for arraignment and further case arrangements in Spokane district court, 1800 West Broadway, at 9 am on Friday, July 5; Ziggy appears at the same time and place on Thursday, July 11.  Please support these fellow coal export opponents by attending their hearings, to display regional resistance and solidarity.

Boardman Coal Port Hearing, Rally, & Comment Period

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently issued three draft permits for Ambre Energy’s controversial Morrow Pacific project, to regulate air, water, and storm water quality at the proposed Coyote Island coal export terminal at the Port of Morrow in Boardman.  DEQ is holding a comment period until 5 pm on July 12 and will host public hearings on Tuesday, July 9, at Blue Mountain Community College in Hermiston and at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.  With several regional organizations, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) activists are coordinating a demonstration outside the Hermiston hearing starting at 5:30 pm, upon our return from the Tar Sands Healing Walk (July 5-6 in Fort McMurray, Alberta).  We are grateful to work with Oregon groups to plan this rally, integrate it with other hearing activities, and recruit passionate rail route residents, speakers, and protesters from Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, Spokane, northern Idaho, and Montana. Continue reading →

July 2 Pre-Tar Sands Solidarity Journey Potluck

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Dear Friends,

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) is hosting a potluck at the WIRT Activist House (call for address) tonight, Tuesday, July 2, at 7 pm, for everyone to meet Doug Grandt and John Pappan, who came from Nebraska to join our journey to the Tar Sands Healing Walk.  Fellow traveler James Blakely will arrive from Boise later this evening.  John of the Omaha Tribe will offer a pipe ceremony as we gather for our departure at 7 am on Wednesday morning, July 3.  We will travel and document the industry-preferred megaload route on one leg of the trip, as part of our shared regional activism against Alberta tar sands exploitation.

Second Tar Sands Solidarity Journey

The Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition (PESC) and Wild Idaho Rising Tide are coordinating a carpool/caravan to Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta, Canada, to join with hundreds of indigenous and grassroots allies and activists from across the continent and the world in the Fourth Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk on Friday and Saturday, July 5 and 6.  The eight Idaho and Nebraska participants in the Second Tar Sands Solidarity Journey will depart Moscow, Idaho, just before the Fourth of July weekend, on Wednesday morning, July 3, and return on Tuesday afternoon, July 9.  They offer opportunities to share expenses and supplies during a summer camping trip to and from the largest industrial project on Earth, retracing routes of tar sands megaloads. Continue reading →

The Megaload Corridor Was Just Sealed Shut

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Marty Trillhaase, Editorial Page Editor, Lewiston

The Lewiston Tribune 6/30/13

Topography and weather blocked ExxonMobil’s grand plan for a fleet of 200 megaloads following a well-coordinated timetable toward the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, along U.S. Highway 12.

Winter and tight corners along the river corridor meant only a test load reached the Montana state line – days later than planned – only to be stopped by legal hurdles on the other side.

Loads piled up at the Port of Lewiston until they were cut down to sizes capable of clearing interstate highway overpasses and sent on their way north along U.S. Highway 95.

Left in limbo, however, was the fate of the occasional megaload.

Ruling in favor of Idaho Rivers United, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill last winter ruled that the U.S. Forest Service is obligated to exercise jurisdiction over any megaload seeking to traverse the Wild and Scenic River corridor along Highway 12. Continue reading →

Protesters Cited for Railroad Bridge Trespassing during Fearless Summer Rally

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In solidarity with grassroots organizations across the country, Rising Tide and allied groups throughout the Northwest organized region-wide direct actions for the Fearless Summer Escalating Week of Action during June 24 to 29 [1].  In Coeur d’Alene, Missoula, Portland, Seattle, and Spokane on June 25, 27, and 28, climate activists protested extreme energy extraction, transportation, and combustion through coordinated demonstrations confronting dirty energy industrial projects including Northwest coal mining, hauling, and burning [2-5].

Like citizens in the Northwest and beyond, activists and allies of Occupy Spokane, Spokane Coalition Builders, and Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) take issue with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) disclosure at a June 18 U.S. House Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing [6].  The federal agency stated that it will not undertake a programmatic environmental impact statement considering the broader climate change impacts and the effects of rail transport of coal in its review of three proposed Northwest coal export terminals [7-9].  The Corps has also unjustifiably fast-tracked its environmental assessment of Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific Project plans for the Coyote Island coal export terminal at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon [10].

On behalf of the health and environment of eastern Washingtonians, Idahoans, and Montanans dismissed by the Corps, about two dozen people staged two demonstrations called Fearless Summer: Coal Export Sacrifice Zone Uprising in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Spokane, Washington [11-13].  On Thursday, June 27, protesters encountered a deserted Corps regulatory field office in Coeur d’Alene, with a note posted on its door saying that “staff members are working in the field during the afternoon of Thursday, June 27.”  Through photographs, activists nonetheless documented citizen outrage with Corps coal export decisions, before personnel at the private office building expressed their displeasure with their presence.

During evening rush-hour traffic on North Division Street in Spokane on Thursday, June 27, over 20 people gathered for a sign-waving rally denouncing coal export train routes and increased rail traffic through northern Idaho and Spokane.  While most of the participants stood  near the Sprague Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way intersections, two activists walked toward the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad bridge over Division Street near Sprague Avenue, to obtain higher traffic visibility for their protest signs juxtaposed to the loaded coal train cars temporarily stopped on the bridge.  BNSF patrols cited Tony Dellwo and “Ziggy” with second degree criminal trespass [14].  Along with supportive fellow coal export opponents, the defendants will appear in Spokane district court for hearings on July 5 and 11. Continue reading →

Stop the Frack Attack, Idaho! Weekend

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Idaho Gas Drill without Margins

In the wake of the Stop the Frack Attack, Idaho! Week and Month of Actions, Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction (IRAGE), Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), and United Vision for Idaho (UVI) are launching the Stop the Frack Attack, Idaho! Weekend to conclude an undeniably successful June full of citizen resistance to oil and gas drilling and impending fracking in Idaho [1, 2, 3].  As mercenary natural gas development companies and the colluded state government accelerate pillage of public resources, Idahoans are increasingly confronting politicians and profiteers through actions to protect shared surface, ground, and irrigation waters, wildlife, agriculture, and recreation, air quality and climate, and the subsequent health of current and future generations.

From Coeur d’Alene to Boise, we started the month with statewide protests at six offices of the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL), the agency charged with permitting oil and gas exploration, extraction, and production in Idaho.  Initially through these WIRT actions and comments, we voiced opposition to IDL leasing of state lands along and under the Payette River for drilling and rallied against an IDL permit sought by Alta Mesa Services (AMS) to drill the Smoke Ranch well in a Payette River island floodplain near a confluence and wildlife refuge, wetlands, prior Native lands, and downstream city water intake.  In response, IDL issued a media counter-release that disclosed that IDL had leased the Payette River Wildlife Management Area for drilling and that it anticipated “small frac jobs” on half of the previously established eleven wells in Payette County.  IDL also inexplicably disregarded and refused to post WIRT’s extensive comments on the AMS permit application, despite their relevance.  Twenty-plus participants in the June 7 protest outside the main IDL office and minerals division during afternoon rush-hour traffic in downtown Boise waved signs and banners, chalked sidewalk notes, and engaged IDL director Tom Schultz in a brief conversation.  Several widely circulated press releases and the WIRT rebuttal to IDL’s counter-release motivated Boise Weekly, Earthworks Earthblog, EcoWatch, and KRFP Radio Free Moscow to cover our extensive demonstrations. Continue reading →

Fearless Summer: Coal Export Sacrifice Zone Uprising

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Black Thunder Mine, Wright, Wyoming (Associated Press photo)

Since late May, Rising Tide and allied groups across the Northwest have been organizing region-wide direct actions for the Fearless Summer of resistance to extreme energy extraction, transportation, and combustion, starting with the Escalating Week of Action during June 24 to 29.  In Coeur d’Alene/Spokane, Missoula, Portland, and Seattle, climate activists are integrating their messages and images for coordinated demonstrations confronting Northwest coal mining, hauling, and burning on June 25, 27, and 28.  In solidarity with grassroots organizations across the country, regional protests strive to stop some of the worst dirty energy industrial projects in America.

On behalf of the health and environment of Idahoans and Montanans recently dismissed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) at a U.S. House Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, June 18, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) activists and allies will stage a demonstration at the Coeur d’Alene Corps office (2065 West Riverstone Drive) at 3 pm on Thursday, June 27.  Jennifer Moyer of the Corps stated at the hearing that the federal agency will not undertake a programmatic environmental impact statement considering the broader climate change impacts and the effects of rail transport of coal in its review of three proposed Northwest coal export terminals.  WIRT takes issue with Ms. Moyer’s announcement and the Corps’ fast-tracked Morrow Pacific environmental assessment of Ambre Energy’s Boardman, Oregon, port plans.  (See the following links to pertinent videos, articles, and a protest location map.)

Activists in Montana, Idaho, and eastern Washington encounter difficulty targeting corporate offices and industrial polluters, because thankfully not many sully the inland Northwest’s more breathable environs.  Nonetheless, like comrades in other Northwest cities and beyond, members of Occupy Spokane, Spokane Coalition Builders, and WIRT will gather in Spokane for a sign-waving rally and biking event denouncing coal export/Bakken shale oil train routes and increased rail traffic through northern Idaho and Spokane.  Participants will meet at 4:30 pm on Thursday, June 27, in the lobby of the Community Building (35 West Main Avenue, Spokane) before standing at the busy, evening rush-hour intersection of North Division Street and East Martin Luther King Jr. Way.  A Spokane bike action may also emerge at 6 pm in High Bridge Park just off West Sunset Boulevard, with people riding trails near train tracks through the west side of Spokane.

Please RSVP to let WIRT know if you can attend any of these events.  Carpools to Coeur d’Alene/Spokane will depart the WIRT Activist House in Moscow, Idaho, at 1 pm on Thursday, June 27, and return by 8 pm that evening.  For further information, email WIRT at wild.idaho.rising.tide@gmail.com or call 208-301-8039.  Before the massive 350.org Summer Heat convergence in Portland on Saturday, July 27, co-sponsored by Portland Rising Tide and expanded by representative contingents from across the region, other Fearless Summer actions this week in the Northwest include: Continue reading →

Forest Service Brakes on Megaload Request

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Proposed 21-foot-wide load would stop traffic, take more than 12 hours, and modify the road or vegetation on U.S. Highway 12

The U.S. Forest Service is advising the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) to steer a pending megaload away from the wild and scenic river corridor along U.S. Highway 12, until the state and federal agency develop formal protocols to deal with massively oversized rigs.

The state is considering an application from the transportation company Omega Morgan to move a 255-foot-long and 21-foot-wide water purification vessel weighing 644,000 pounds from the Port of Lewiston to the Idaho/Montana state line near Lolo Pass via the scenic byway.  The narrow, two-lane highway passes through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest and travels along the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River and the Lochsa River, which are both part of the National Wild and Scenic River System.

Earlier this year, federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill of Boise ruled the Forest Service has authority to review the state’s approval of megaload shipments that pass through national forest land and in particular those that would affect wild and scenic river corridors.  The agency had argued in court that it lacked such authority.

But the judge didn’t define what a megaload is or say how much authority the agency has over the shipments. Continue reading →

WIRT Comments on Alta Mesa Services Application to Drill ML Investments Well 2-10

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ML Investments 2-10 Well Site

June 21, 2013

Idaho Department of Lands, Boise Staff Office

P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0050

comments@idl.idaho.gov

Director Schultz and IDL staff,

On behalf of over 1500 members of Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), I offer these comments concerning the application submitted to the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) by Alta Mesa Services (AMS) requesting permits to drill the ML Investments 2-10 well in Payette County, Idaho.  Unlike my previous comments addressing the Alta Mesa Services application to drill the Smoke Ranch 1-21 well, which IDL inexplicably dismissed despite their relevance to the application in question, I request inclusion of these comments in the public record.

WIRT members oppose permitting, drilling, and potential hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) of the proposed Alta Mesa Resources ML Investments 2-10 well due to the inadequacy and incompleteness of AMS plans submitted for public review.  Considering that additional documents were added to the Smoke Ranch 1-21 well application after the public comment period and before IDL permitting of said application, we request that, if the currently submitted AMS application to drill the ML Investments 2-10 well is modified or augmented in any way, the Idaho Department of Lands re-open the comment period for this application.  We also ask that IDL re-open the comment period for the Smoke Ranch 1-21 well for the same reasons.  Failure to both post revised applications and re-open public review of them violates section 51 of 20.07.02 Rules Governing Oil and Gas Conservation in the State of Idaho. Continue reading →