[Vision2020] First Megaload to Roll Feb. 1

[Tom Hansen]

Why bother listening to the people that pay your salary, the people of
Idaho, when jumping into bed with Conoco and Emmert International is
cozier and a lot more lucrative, right Mr. Ness?

View the video,and read the comments at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmIl6SsSyoI

Courtesy of today's (January 19, 2011) Spokesman-Review (not the
Moscow-Pullman Daily News).

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First megaload to roll Feb. 1
Refinery equipment to be transported from Lewiston to Billings in four loads
Betsy Z. Russell, The Spokesman-Review

BOISE – Idaho will let four ConocoPhillips megaloads of oil equipment
start traveling U.S. Highway 12 on Feb. 1, Idaho Transportation Director
Brian Ness announced Tuesday.

“I am convinced the record showed the loads can be moved safely, without
damage to the roads and bridges and with minimal disruption to traffic and
emergency services,” Ness said. “Every argument has been heard and
considered. We can no longer delay this process.”

Ness sided with a state hearing officer who backed the loads after a day
and a half of testimony and arguments last month.

Opponents, including residents and businesses along the scenic route in
north-central Idaho, said the extra-large loads, which will take up both
lanes of the twisting, two-lane road, threaten tourism, safety and travel
in the area. They also expressed concern that the ConocoPhillips loads
would serve as a precedent for hundreds of megasized loads that other oil
companies, including ExxonMobil, want to send across Idaho in the next
year and a half en route to the Alberta oil sands.

Ness said Idaho’s transportation department properly followed its
administrative process, all sides received a fair opportunity to present
their case, and there were “no compelling reasons” for him to disagree
with the state hearing officer’s ruling.

The permits for the ConocoPhillips loads, which consist of two giant coke
drums cut in half, will be issued for travel starting on Feb. 1, Ness
said, weather permitting.

ConocoPhillips has informed ITD that it will truck the first two loads to
Billings, then return the specialized trailers to Lewiston for the second
two loads and apply for the final two permits when those are ready to
move.

“We’re very pleased that the director of ITD issued the final order,” said
John Roper, the company’s spokesman. “ConocoPhillips will proceed with its
plans in accordance with the permits and we will provide updates on the
status of the shipments as they proceed.”

The opponents, led by Highway 12 residents Borg Hendrickson and Linwood
Laughy, said in a statement that they’ll confer with their lawyers on
their next step.

“The 13 contested case intervenors are pleased that during the past 10
months the citizens of Idaho have had an opportunity to peel back the
hidden layers of state agency decision-making and to learn more about what
their state government has been planning for the Clearwater Valley and
Highway 12,” they said.

“We are saddened by the fact that the thousands of Idahoans who oppose the
megaloads are having to work so hard to have one of their own state
agencies hear them. Citizens’ right to question decisions made by state
agencies is central to our democratic form of government.”

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown