<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; "><p style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; ">Survey suggests most Highway 12 residents fine with mega-loads</h2><div class="postedby" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 10px; line-height: 11px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; ">By Jay Patrick<br>January 25th, 2011</div></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">The people have spoken and they say bring on the mega-loads.</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">That’s according to a coalition of a few dozen business associations that released the results of a poll they commissioned showing that 70 percent of people living along Highway 12 are OK with oil companies trucking huge pieces of equipment across the state.
The polling firm Public Opinion Strategies in December conducted the questioning of 150 people living along the highway, and 450 people living in the Boise area and southwest Idaho, said Ale<strong>x LaBeau</strong><span style="font-size: x-small; "><strong></strong></span> president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, during a press conference at the Capitol Tuesday. The poll found that 52 percent of southwestern Idaho residents favored letting the loads go through. The firm questioned people in that corner of the state – instead of, say, north Idaho – because of the media coverage there, <span style="font-size: x-small; "><strong>LaBeau</strong></span> said.</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">The Idaho Transportation Department has issued permits to ConocoPhillips to move four halves of massive coke drums – which will block both lanes – 174 miles from Lewiston to Lolo Pass. The department is now working with another company that wants to truck 207 loads of equipment across the state, and on to Alberta, and other shipments are expected if the route is established.“This is a well thought-out plan,” <span style="font-size: x-small; "><strong>LaBeau</strong></span> said of ITD’s consideration of public safety and convenience in issuing permits for the Conoco shipments.</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">Twelve Highway 12 residents have challenged the permits in court and in a special hearing, but ITD Director Ness approved the permits earlier this month after an independent hearing officer found that ITD had followed procedure and properly reviewed shipment plans. Natalie Havlina, one of the lawyers representing the residents, said a decision about whether to challenge Ness’s decision in district court has not been made.</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">“It’s clear that despite the best efforts to undermine this project that is being orchestrated by organized out-of-state special interests, Idaho residents support job creation and new business investment,” said <span style="font-size: x-small; "><strong>LaBeau</strong></span> in a press release.Havlina said load opponents aren’t anti-business and argue that the nighttime shipments could disrupt local commercial truck traffic.
Linwood Laughy, the Highway 12 resident who started the fight, told Public News Service that residents are contemplating challenging Ness’s decision and the 207 proposed shipments.“What has occurred with ConocoPhillips is really a dress rehearsal. Some of the legal issues are still out there. The only time that there’s been any decision made in a court of law about this, we won.”</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">At the press conference, <span style="font-size: x-small; "><strong>LaBeau</strong></span> said a ruling against the loads could be bad news for companies across the state.“Setting any kind of precedence is problematic,” he said.Sen. Chuck Winder, on hand for the announcement, said: “This is about more than Highway 12.”</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">He dismissed the argument that loads should not be allowed on Highway 12 because the remote, snaky, riverside route is unique and compared the mega-loads to the journey of Lewis and Clark.“You can’t hide behind ‘this is a scenic highway,’” said Winder.</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">At a joint meeting of the transportation committees of the House and Senate last week, Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, a former chairman of the senate transportation committee, praised Brian Ness (who was there delivering ITD’s annual report) for his approval of the Conoco loads. Rep. Shirley Ringo, R-Moscow, disagreed. She questioned ITD’s planning and review of shipment plans. “It seems to me the process grew as we went along,” she said. “I hope at the end of this we have a process in place.”</p><p style="line-height: 19px; ">Rep. JoAn Wood countered that ITD does follow a permitting process, which hearing officer Merlyn Clark validated in his decision</p></span><div><div>On Jan 27, 2011, at 9:04 AM, Moscow Cares wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Greetings Visionaires -<br><br>The Highway 12 Megaloads portion of the Moscow Cares website has been<br>updated to include:<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Emails Concerning ISP Support for Megaload Transportation<br><br>Series of email exchanges between Rep. Tom Trail, ITD Governmental Affairs<br>Manager Mollie McCarty, and Linwood Laughy.<br>(January 19-26, 2011)<br><br><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Highway12/ISPsuppt_email_012611.htm">http://www.moscowcares.com/Highway12/ISPsuppt_email_012611.htm</a><br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Additional information regarding the Highway 12 megaloads may be accessed at:<br><br>http://www.moscowcares.com/Highway12/<br><br>Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .<br><br>"Moscow Cares"<br>http://www.MoscowCares.com<br><br>Tom Hansen<br>Moscow, Idaho<br><br><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> http://www.fsr.net <br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================<br></div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>