megaloads

A windstorm in Cutbank has forced a major change for the megaload of oil equipment headed into Montana, necessitating a stay of nearly two weeks in Bonner.

The megaload of oil refinery equipment headed for the tar sands of Canada is traveling through Oregon and will soon arrive in Idaho, however, no permit has yet been issued for the shipment to cross through Montana.

Federal forest administrators have shut down a stretch of U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho to trucks hauling big and wide loads.

As last load departs, megaload opponents claim victory

Commissioner Concerned About More Than Megaloads

 A state judge has issued an order that could open U.S. Highway 12 from Lolo Pass to Missoula to large loads of equipment bound for an oil sands project in Canada. District Judge Ray Dayton modified a preliminary injunction and now says Montana's Department of Transportation can review and permit Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil loads to travel on the two-lane route to Missoula, where the loads would like

The final two huge shipments of equipment for the ConocoPhillips refinery have arrived in Billings despite several court cases, some protests and weather delays. The two halves of the second coker drum stopped along Montana Highway 3 early Wednesday and were scheduled to be moved to the refinery overnight.

A hearing officer has rejected a motion to reconsider his decision in favor of a plan by ExxonMobil to haul massive loads of equipment along a scenic highway in north central Idaho. Former state judge Duff McKee rejected the request Monday filed by critics of Exxon's plans to ship the oversized loads along U.S. Highway 12.

Montana Judge Ray Dayton's decision on Tuesday will keep any mega-load shipments from traveling over Highways 12 and 200 towards the tar sands oil fields in Canada anytime soon. That decision is one more step in a continuing legal process. I spoke with Deputy County Attorney D. James McCubbin on Wednesday afternoon. A portion of that interview is attached.

A judge has upheld a request by Missoula County and three conservation groups to stop Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil from transporting massive oilfield equipment modules through western Montana. District Judge Ray Dayton of Anaconda issued his decision late Tuesday afternoon to partially grant a preliminary injunction against the Montana Department of Transportation and Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil. Read Mo