BREAKING NEWS:

• Lolo National Forest taking comments on power line burial for big rigs (August 28, 2010)
  
• Missoula County commissioners prepared to sue to stop big rig shipments (August 27, 2010)
  
• Judge denies issuance of permit allowing mega-loads on Highway 12 (August 24, 2010)

MASSIVE MINING EQUIPMENT TO BE MOVED THROUGH MONTANA TO ALBERTA TAR SANDS

(August 2010) There’s a lot at stake.

If the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) gives the nod, some of Montana’s most scenic by-ways could become permanent corridors for multi-billion dollar oil companies who would opt for this cheaper way to haul loads of oversized equipment.

MDT director Jim Lynch has said that his agency will decide by early Sepember whether an environmental assessment (EA) for Imperial Oil’s (a subsidiary of ExxonMobil) proposed Kearl Module Transportation Project (KMTP) is adequate, or whether the agency will produce a more thorough environmental impact statement (EIS). If MDT determines that the EA is adequate, it will issue a permit to Imperial Oil to transport more than 200 convoys of massive tar sands mining equipment through western Montana this fall.

Click here to read the EA.

Most of this equipment is three-quarters the length of a football field and weighs almost 400,000 pounds (see diagram, page 4). These massive “modules” will creep along a route that includes narrow two-lane highways over Lolo Pass and along the Blackfoot River and the Rocky Mountain Front before crossing into Alberta (see map, below).

MDT had initially expected to make a decision on the project in June 2010, but postponed doing so because of the overwhelming number of public comments it received. Most of the comments urged the agency to prepare an EIS for the project, because the EA failed to identify all the potential environmental impacts. MDT also failed to consult with necessary parties including tribal governments, and failed to thoroughly evaluate reasonable alternative transportation routes. It is clear an EIS, which requires a much more thorough analysis than an EA, is imperative for this project.

MDT and Montana governor Brian Schweitzer have implied that an EA is adequate because the impacts of the KMTP will be limited to the 200 loads. But the EA itself states that it is “reasonably foreseeable” that this project will facilitate movement of other types of oversized equipment in the future. The proposed turnouts and hundreds of utility line relocations could turn scenic U.S. Highway 12 and Montana Highway 200 into permanent industrial “high and wide” corridors.

Mining in the Alberta tar sands is expected to continue for at least five decades. If the KMTP is permitted, it is likely that Imperial Oil will use the route through Montana until the last bit of tar sands oil has been extracted.

What are the impacts of tar sands mining?

• Tar sands mining has irreversible impacts to the environment and public health: 
• It will produce 108-125 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. That's more than conventional oil production by a factor of 3-1
  
• It produces excess levels of harmful particulates that impair air quality
  
• It requires the clearing of valuable old-growth forests
  

• It severely harms water quality 

Idaho judge blocks equipment haul

On August 17, 2010, an Idaho district court judge issued a decision that will temporarily block Conoco-Phillips from hauling four pieces of massive oil refining equipment to Billings, Montana. Conoco’s shipments would have paved the way for Imperial Oil to transport more than 200 loads of massive tar sands equipment through Idaho and Montana this fall. The judge ordered the Idaho Department of Transportation to re-examine the permit request to ensure that public safety and convenience were adequately provided for. The decision also mentioned the potential for “great damage” to highways and bridges.  Concerned individuals in both Idaho and Montana praised the decision, and vowed to continue fighting to prevent the shipments from occurring.

SEE:  Judge denies issuance of permit allowing mega-loads on Highway 12 (August 24, 2010)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Read MEIC and Sierra Club’s joint comments to the Montana Dept. of Transportation on this issue