[Vision2020] GEORGE OCHENSKI: Judge says NO to megaloads

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of the Missoulian (Missoula, Montana), with thanks to a friend and fellow Viz subscriber, at:

http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/george-ochenski-judge-says-no-to-megaloads/article_03ab3628-1e90-11e3-80b5-0019bb2963f4.html

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GEORGE OCHENSKI: Judge says NO to megaloads
They say Friday the 13th is unlucky, but for Montanans and Idahoans opposed to transporting megaloads of tar sands equipment through Idaho’s Wild and Scenic River Corridor, over Lolo Pass and into Montana, it was a very good day indeed. Federal District Judge B. Lynn Winmill not only granted a temporary injunction halting the load Omega-Morgan planned to ship this week, but ordered the Forest Service to do its lawful duty and issue a closure order for 100 miles of the Clearwater and Lochsa River Corridor.

The story starts a couple years back, when ExxonMobil decided to increase its profits by shipping enormous Korean-made industrial modules for use in Alberta’s tar sands up the Columbia River on barges and then up the narrow two-lane of rural Highway 12 through Idaho, into Montana and then up the equally rural roads of the Rocky Mountain Front to Alberta.

To anyone who has ever driven that road the entire concept seemed insane from the start. The loads in question are not your usual “oversize load.” Instead, they’re as tall as two-story homes, as wide as the entire road, as long as a football field and weighing in at more than half a million pounds. Not only is this rural road totally unsuited to such enormous loads, it is bounded on one side by the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers and by numerous cliffs on the other side. Plus, it is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River Corridor intended to protect these pristine rivers and the forests that surround them. Truly, it is one of the most beautiful river corridors in the nation, highly prized not only for its fisheries, but for some of the most exciting and challenging whitewater in the world.

Nonetheless, ExxonMobil was determined to put its priorities over those of residents who feared the total closures of the road during megaload transport would leave them stranded during medical emergencies and generally disrupt their rural lifestyle. And then there’s the Nez Perce Tribe, which maintains treaty rights dating to 1855 guaranteeing it traditional use of the waters and lands for hunting, fishing and ceremonial purposes, none of which are compatible with using the highway as a megaload industrial transport route.

The issue peaked when ExxonMobil’s crews butchered the old growth trees overhanging the roadway to make room for their loads. In the meantime, the Forest Service, in a clear dereliction of duty and cowed by corporate bullying, sat by while the lands and waters in their custody were sacrificed to ExxonMobil’s profits.

But opponents did not stand by idly. Instead, Idaho Rivers United challenged the Forest Service in federal court, delaying the shipments and eventually winning a decision from Judge Winmill that the Forest Service did indeed have the legal authority and clear duty to protect the values of the Wild and Scenic Lochsa-Clearwater Corridor. Stymied, ExxonMobil cut its modules into smaller pieces and shipped them on routes more suitable to industrial use.

It seemed like the battle was over and the river corridor won. But then along came Omega-Morgan in August, with plans to once again attempt to ship megaloads up Highway 12. Ignoring both the Forest Service and the Nez Perce Tribe, the company ran its first load through a continuing series of protesters, many of which were arrested, including Tribal Chairman Silas Whitman. Advocates for the West, representing Idaho Rivers United, was joined by the Nez Perce Tribe and returned to Judge Winmill’s court to force the Forest Service to protect the corridor and uphold tribal treaty rights.

Winmill’s 17-page Memorandum Decision and Order not only re-affirmed the Forest Service’s authority and obligation to protect the Wild and Scenic River Corridor, it granted a temporary injunction and ordered the agency to immediately close the corridor to megaload shipments, thus stopping Omega-Morgan’s planned Sept. 18 shipment. Further, it ordered the Forest Service to conduct a thorough study of the impacts on the river corridor and consult with the tribe prior to any further consideration of allowing megaloads through the area.

It was, as “Fighting Goliath’s” Borg Hendrikson called it, “a hands-down victory.” And indeed, it is a victory for the dozens of organizations, thousands of citizens, and tribal treaty rights against the most powerful corporations in the world. Hopefully, it will send a final signal that megaloads have no place on the Lochsa-Clearwater Wild and Scenic River Corridor, nor over Lolo Pass, nor on any rural roads in Idaho or Montana.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
 

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