As predicted there have been lots of problems, though they will most certainly get the first load through eventually- Snowy roads, traffic delay violations stall ConocoPhillips megaloads. By Kim Briggeman. Missoulian. There is a rumor that future loads might be routed to use Interstate 90 and 15 which would present far fewer technical, congestion, and…
Opponents of the megaloads drop fight on the first four- Having lost before the Idaho Department of Transportation, opponents of the oil megaloads will no longer try to stop the first four of them. These are bound for the existing oil refinery in Billings, Montana. The next 200 megaloads (not approved for now) are for what…
If first four loads don’t go up and over smoothly, battle will likely last for a generation- The megaloads for the Billings, MT oil refinery now have a go ahead from Idaho, and will probably get one quickly from Montana. Highway 12 itself has been slippery to very slippery except in its lower portion. Parts…
It seems like local opposition to the movement of oil equipment megaloads is growing- Foes of megaloads to continue fighting shipments. By Jessie L. Bonner. By the Associated Press in Bloomberg.
With first, 4 megaloads likely to get go ahead, how can the next 200+ be stopped? ” ‘In some respects it would be nice to get the four loads off the table so we could talk about the real issues,’ said [Linwood] Laughy, who lives along the federal scenic byway in Kooskia, Idaho.” Laughy is…
The next 200 or so loads are still on the table- Boise attorney Merlyn Clark, hearing officer on the oil megaloads that will use U.S. Highway 12 across north central Idaho into Montana has ruled that the first 4 megaloads could be transported safely with “minimum inconvenience” up narrow U.S. Highway 12 to the Montana…
Idaho activists successfully delay megaloads into 2011- Hearing officer does not issue a decision on the international oil company megaloads sitting at the Port of Lewiston, Idaho. Decision will be coming out at an undefined future date. No ruling before Christmas on megaloads. Lewiston (ID) Tribune on-line
Report on last week’s hearing predicts the decision on the megaloads will be close- Having won a hard fought battle to intervene on the decision whether to allow the first megaloads of oil equipment up Highway 12 and over Lolo Pass, the full hearing last week pitted local residents and the Boise based law firm,…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.