[Vision2020] Missoula County Attempts to Stop Kearl Oilfields Megaloads

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of The Missoulian at:

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_532c50e2-7ff5-11e0-8fa1-001cc4c002e0.html

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Testimony opens in Missoula County's attempt to stop Kearl oilfield megaloads

Testimony opened Monday morning on a request by Missoula County and three
conservation groups for a preliminary injunction against a plan to move
more than 200 massive loads of oilfield equipment across Montana via
two-lane highways.

The plan was proposed by Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil and approved by the
Montana Department of Transportation after an environmental assessment.
Both entities have legal representation at the hearing in Missoula
District Court.

Last month, Judge Ray Dayton of Anaconda granted the plaintiffs a
temporary restraining order against the Kearl Module Transport Project
until the preliminary injunction request was fully vetted. A test
validation module has been parked at Lolo Hot Springs for the past couple
of weeks, waiting a go-ahead from the state of Montana.

Dayton has scheduled three days for the hearing. On Monday morning, he
heard testimony from three of the five witnesses for the plaintiffs, which
include Missoula County, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club
and the Montana Environmental Information Center.

On the stand were Ovando resident Sara Boyett; Greg Howard, a wetlands
specialist for Watershed Consultants in Missoula, and Peter Nielsen,
environmental health supervisor for the Missoula City-County Health
Department.

The bulk of the morning's testimony centered on the county's position that
proposed turnouts along U.S. Highway 12 from Lolo Pass to Lolo threaten
the watershed of an already seriously impaired Lolo Creek.

It was largely on Nielsen's testimony outlining those concerns that Dayton
granted the temporary restraining order in April. Nielsen was back on the
stand Monday after conducting a more extensive study of existing and
proposed turnouts for the project.

Nielsen said he's even more convinced now that MDT's environmental
assessment did not adequately address water resource issues. Under
questioning by deputy county attorney James McCubbin, he said sediment
control measures already in place for roughly 10 miles of utility lines
buried last year to aid in the Kearl move were improperly installed and in
some places already missing.

Nielsen also testified that some proposed new turnouts would be closer to
the stream or to wetlands than the 100 feet stipulated in the plan.
Missoula attorney Stephen Brown, representing Imperial/Exxon, pointed out
that the state Department of Environmental Quality reviewed and approved
the turnout construction plan in the environmental assessment and that
flexibility is built into the plan to move the location of turnouts if
such concerns are raised.

Boyett said her Ovando home is 300 yards from Highway 200, where the
megaloads will pass. She submitted her concerns during the EA process that
emergency travel on Highway 200 could be impaired. The final report
addressed such concerns, "but I'm not at all sure the mitigation is
adequate," Boyett said.

She also opposes the plan because it's almost certain to make a negative
impact on her property values and that the light and noise made by the
individual convoys would be "intrusive to my peace and quiet."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"This is the 'Mouse that Roared,' 'David and Goliath' and 'Avatar' all
rolled into one.  We must remember that the thousands of citizens involved
in this effort to protect their personal and family safety, their
businesses and their lifestyles are confronting some of the largest
international corporations in the world."

- Linwood Laughy