Upcoming Events

Idaho Rivers United announces Stop the Megaloads Party plus Lochsa Fundraising Whitewater Trip and INVITES YOU:

PARTY: June 18, 5 p.m. (We'll be there. Hope you will too!)
along the Wild & Scenic Middle Fork Clearwater at
Syringa Cafe/River Dance Lodge on U.S.Hwy.12, Milepost 90.
For more info:
http://www.idahorivers.org/getinvolved/events.aspx?id=187

RAFT TRIP: June 19th along the Wild & Scenic Lochsa River.
For more info:
http://idahorivers.org/getinvolved/events.aspx?id=180

Still pending:
-- the Idaho contested case hearing officer's recommendation to ITD Director Ness. (Intervenors' Post Hearing Brief.)
-- the Missoula County, et. al., vs. MDT injunction hearing judge's decision.
-- the Idaho Rivers United vs. Clearwater National Forest lawsuit proceedings.
-- the final 2 ConocoPhillips' megaload shipments arrival in Billings. Their Lewiston launch was first week of May.

Paul Edwards Video

After months of research on the issue of megaloads and the Alberta tar sands, Montana resident Paul Edwards created an engaging youtube video to share his point of view. Here's the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoKW771tG_Q

Statesman:

Lin & Borg win Max Dalton Open Government Award

Originators of FightingGoliath and on-the-front-lines anti-megaload activists Linwood Laughy and Borg Hendrickson were recently honored to win the 2011 Max Dalton Open Government Award.

As noted in a Dan Popkey blog post in the Idaho Statesman, "Hendrickson and Laughy pressed for the disclosure of transportation plans for shipments of massive industrial equipment bound for Canada over Idaho's scenic U.S.12. They also unveiled correspondence between oil companies and the Idaho Transportation Department and posted the material on their website ... "

"Their efforts, from realization of the problem to the present ongoing fight, resemble a spider web reaching every aspect of government and beyond," said Lee Halper of Jerome, who nominated the couple. "From two, there are now many who fight this fight..."

Read more:

Video of Megaload on Highway 12

To view Vickie Garcia's video, shown at the contested case hearing during her testimony, go here: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehstxkkO6aQ"
Vickie and her husband Walt Bailey were among the 3-4 dozen north central Idaho residents and Missoula residents who monitored and observed the 2 ConocoPhillips' shipments and the Imperial/Exxon so-called "test" shipment. Vickie's video clearly shows that the ITD-approved traffic management plan of the first ConocoPhillips' shipment was woefully inadequate at best, and at worst, seriously chaotic, inconvenient and unsafe.

Janice Inghram testifies at hearing

Megaload opponent Janice Inghram was the first witness to testify at ITD's Imperial/Exxon contested case hearing this morning. Janice spoke of the continual use she and her husband Roger Inghram make of U.S.Highway 12 for business and volunteer work, as well as for social and recreational purposes. She noted that once on the highway above Kooskia, she, Roger and anyone else on or alongside the highway has only one route to anywhere for any reason -- including emergencies -- and that route is U.S.12. If it is blocked by a megaload, she and everyone else traveling above Kooskia will be blocked from traveling west. She also noted that when she and Roger travel on the highway, as they frequently do, between Kooskia and the Selway River Road at Lowell, the ITD traffic counters, which are above Lowell and below Kamiah, do not count their vehicle. No vehicle that travels between those 2 counters is counted as part of the highway's traffic numbers. Janice noted that she travels that section of the highway 18-20 times per month most months of the year.

Following Janice's testimony, opponents' lawyer Natalie Havlina of Advocates for the West called 2 ISP officers to the stand. Among other topics, they testified about the number of officers available to serve as "overtime" escorts to the megaloads. They stated that there are 17 officer positions in the district, but 2 positions are vacant and 1 officer is in Iraq, leaving 14 available officers. They also noted that of the 14, some officers choose to not serve as escorts for megaloads, which further narrows the number of available officers. Of the 14, the number of ISP officers accompanying Imperial/Exxon's so-called "test validation" shipment is 4. Although ITD staff had testified yesterday that up to 3 of IO/EX's shipments could be on U.S.12 all at the same time, the ISP officers understood -- evidently erroneously -- that only 1 shipment could be on the highway at a time. The officers said that if 3 shipments are on the highway at the same time, ISP would not have enough officers to serve as escorts.

At 11:30 a.m. the hearing was adjourned until 9 a.m. Monday, when opponent Linwood Laughy will take the stand.

Contested Case Hearing: Imperial/Exxon, April 29, 2011

Yesterday's testimony at the ITD contested case hearing regarding Imperial/Exxon's 200+ megaload shipment permits got underway in the morning with witness Alan Frew of ITD. He, and later ITD's Dave Couch, testified about Imperial/Exxon's transport plan, including its traffic management plan, and ITD's permit approval process. Advocates for the West's lawyers Laird Lucas and Natalie Havlina represented the opponents.

With about 1 1/2 hours of the session remaining, Wild & Scenic Middle Fork Clearwater resident Vickie Garcia took the stand, and by day's end, the approximate dozen opponents present were calling her their "star witness." Vickie testified on the topics of inconvenience, safety, and megaload traffic management, which she had experienced firsthand. During the Kooskia-east leg of the first ConocoPhillips' shipment, Vickie and her husband Walt Bailey had traveled out on the highway to experience what being on the road during a shipment would be like so that should more shipments follow over months and years, they would know what to expect. During her testimony, Vickie showed a video she had taken out the front windshield of their car the snowy night of that leg of the shipment. The video gave the Judge and others in the room an opportunity to understand the chaotic nature of the ITD-approved traffic management and the risks to safety and convenience caused by that chaotic management.

Today's contested case session will begin at 9 a.m. at the ITD building, and first to take the stand will be opponent's witness Janice Inghram of Grangeville.