“Going back to what is really at issue here,” ConocoPhillips attorney Erik Stidham told an ITD hearing officer this morning, “we’re facing a situation that really is about politics and not about this refinery in Bilings.”
He displayed a protest website that referred to “Axles of Evil.” “This is not about the ‘Axles of Evil’ as proposed intervenors would have you believe,” Stidham said. “It’s again … about four shipments. It’s not about a broader agenda.”
He added that U.S. Highway 12’s status as a scenic byway doesn’t bring any restrictions on commercial use. Stidham said, “We’re not contending that this stretch of road is any less beautiful than any of the other 29 stretches of scenic highway, but the reality is that there are no commercial restrictions placed on this.” He showed slides of several industrial sites along the route near Lewiston. “It’s a working road,” Stidham said.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
Named best state-based political blog in Idaho for 2013 by The Fix
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2013, The Spokesman-Review
Terms of use • Privacy policy • Copyright policy
Spokane7
52°
Get blog updates by email
Please keep it civil. Don't post comments that are obscene, defamatory, threatening, off-topic, an infringement of copyright or an invasion of privacy. Read our forum standards and community guidelines.
You must be logged in to post comments. Please log in here or click the comment box below for options.
comments powered by Disqus« Back to Eye On Boise