Clearwater Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell has been receiving numerous emails with pictures of a barge carrying a pressure vessel up the Columbia River, according to yesterday’s Lewiston Tribune. A pressure vessel is a piece of equipment used to extract oil from tar sands. Omega Morgan wants to move 10 of these through Route 12 to Alberta, and Brazell confirmed that Omega Morgan has submitted a new proposal to drive megaloads on the highway along the middle fork of the Clearwater and the Lochsa. Two large vessels were parked at the Port of Whitman County. They’re fueling speculation, though there not yet confirmation that these are megaloads preparing for a controversial journey. In order to traverse the route, Omega Morgan megaloads need approval not only from the Idaho Department of Transportation, but also the US Forest Service, because the vessels would pass through a wild and scenic river corridor. And the Forest Service says that over-sized loads requiring traffic to be stopped, requiring modification of the highway or adjacent vegetation, or requiring over 12 hours to pass through the corridor must acquire case by case approval, which will not be granted until the Forest Service has had the chance to meet with the Nez Perce tribe. No word yet on when the vehicles are bound for the wild and scenic corridor, but Brazell expects a showdown sometime soon.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 17:08:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015