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<H1><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">Sure enough,
after all the promises that the megaloads posed no problems to those of us who
also use the Highway 95 route, a megaloads driver smashed into a couple of
cars. Thankfully, the megaloads didn’t kill anyone this time. For
specifics, see the Daily News article reprinted below. </FONT></FONT></H1>
<H1><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">There’s plenty of
blame to go around, but the responsibility really belongs to Idaho’s Republican
power structure, from Gov. Otter to the legislature to the lackeys at the state
department of transportation. All they saw was money coming their
way. They didn’t consider the safety and welfare of the citizens.
</FONT></FONT></H1>
<H1><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">Idaho’s state
government really needs an enema. It’s time to clean out these autocratic
Republicans. BL</FONT></FONT></H1>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">----------------------------------
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<H1><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">Megaloads
suspended after accident </FONT></FONT></H1>
<P><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman">By Brandon Macz, Daily News staff writer
| Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2011 12:00 am </FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The Idaho Transportation Department has
suspended further shipments of Imperial Oil refinery modules from the Port of
Lewiston following a Tuesday night accident south of Moscow.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Three shipments that left the port Tuesday night
were supposed to stop at a staging area on U.S. Highway 95 before traveling
through Moscow in a convoy, but one driver attempted to leave the area before
southbound traffic was released, said Capt. Lonnie Richardson with Idaho State
Patrol Region 2 in Lewiston. The module itself struck a Chevy Astro causing
severe damage and minor damage when it was pushed into the vehicle behind it. No
one was injured, Richardson said.</FONT></P>
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class="restricted-text ui-widget ui-widget-header ui-state-error"></DIV><FONT
face="Times New Roman">"The driver did not remain at the staging area once he
got there," said Richardson. "The driver did not follow the approved safety plan
... This was clearly driver error."</FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">While ISP continues its investigation, shipments
have been suspended until a safety plan is approved,according to an email
statement from ITD spokesman Adam Rush. The suspension includes three shipments
schedule to travel Wednesday.</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser said the
oil company will keep its shipments suspended until safety issues are corrected
to its standards.</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">"Until we can make measures to make sure this
doesn't happen again, we won't move until we're confident this won't happen
again," said Rolheiser. "Imperial would ultimately be responsible. It's our
understanding that the damage to the vehicle was relatively minor, but we take
incidents like this very seriously."</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">While ISP holds a contract to escort the
shipments from the Port of Lewiston to the Idaho/Montana border, Richardson said
there is no conflict with his agency investigating the accident, adding safety
is one facet of the agreement.</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">"Initially, that's one of the reasons we got
involved," he said, adding ISP officers were immediately available. "Every
attempt was made to stop the load from moving forward, short of yanking out the
driver. It just happened too quick ... We were able to handle the incident
expediently."</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Brandon Macz can be reached at</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">(208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by</FONT></P></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">email to </FONT><A
href="mailto:bmacz@dnews.com"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">bmacz@dnews.com</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">.</FONT></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>