Spokane7
61°
March 23, 2011 in Idaho
Oversized oil equipment loads may be headed to I-90
MOSCOW – The controversial, oversized loads of oil refinery equipment destined for a project in Alberta, Canada, may be detoured north through Kootenai and Shoshone counties.
The Idaho Transportation Department is reviewing a proposal from Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil to reduce the size of 33 megaloads at the Port of Lewiston so they can be shipped up U.S. Highway 95 to Interstate 90.
The loads – up to 66 of them – would likely go through Moscow.
A crew of around 100 is at work on the megaloads, although it was not clear Tuesday exactly how much they would be reduced in length, width or height.
“Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil is currently cutting 33 loads that are located at the Port of Lewiston in half,” said Mollie McCarty, ITD governmental affairs manager, in an email.
The cost of cutting the 33 loads at the Port of Lewiston is about $500,000 each, she said in the email, but ITD is not aware of the timeline to complete these reductions.
Cutting all 33 loads in half could cost ExxonMobil $16.5 million.
The ITD has begun reviewing the proposal to use Highway 95, though a fixed route has not yet been determined, ITD officials said.
“I know that we’re at the very initial part of that,” said McCarty. “We’re in the early stages right now for reviewing this plan.”
At the same time, a full-size test shipment – much like the highly contested ConocoPhillips megaloads – still is slated to startup U.S. Highway 12 to assess whether ExxonMobil megaloads can safely make the same journey, possibly more than a hundred times in the future.
The test shipment – which is 24 feet wide, 208 feet long, 30 feet high and weighs 508,000 pounds – is scheduled to leave the Port of Lewiston Monday night and is the only load ITD has approved for travel. The oil company would like this to be the first of 114 such shipments destined for the Kearl Oil Sands project in Alberta, Canada.
ITD spokesman Adam Rush said the test shipment will be used to decide whether movement along the curvy highway is manageable and if any problems arise that need to be addressed. The trip is expected to take three days.
Meanwhile, two ConocoPhillips megaloads destined for a Billings, Mont., refinery may not make it there until April, according to a report from the Missoulian. The second load left Lewiston on Feb. 17.
Lost wolf pup finds temporary home 
straighttalk on March 23 at 8:37 a.m.
They should have just had the equipment built on site in both Billings and in Canada.
fishinjay on March 23 at 8:42 a.m.
This is what they should have been doing in the first place. There are no tight spaces to manuever, the roads are wider, and the route does not parallel a nationally designated scenic river.
Instead of blaming the people who opposed the Clearwater River route for the financial impacts the company has endured, just think of the money they could have saved if they had picked this route from the very start.
theisena on March 23 at 8:43 a.m.
I agree with fishinjay. Isn’t this why the interstate highways were built in the first place?
hawken on March 23 at 9:23 a.m.
Got oil anyone?
Spokane gas prices today:
Unleaded Regular - $3.74
Diesel - $4.53
http://www.spokanegasprices.com/index.aspx?fuel=A
otimus on March 23 at 9:33 a.m.
Well we deal alot with over height loads going thru CD’A and the trouble up there is the loads need to go thru downtown to get to the east side of CD’A because the bridge heights over I90 in CD’A is 14’-6, any side streets in town are lined with trees and you would not want to cut down all those trees to get thru. and you know the trouble with building on site in a modern country with all those regulations and unions and etc. the cost would be three times as much then dealing with it this way
hawken on March 23 at 9:50 a.m.
The Obama administration, liberals, et al, do not believe in drilling our own oil.
Environmental extremists applaud Obama.
From the perspective of the far left, lower gas supply means higher demand, which means higher prices. High prices means fewer people by gas.
Fewer people buying gas means less gas consumed.
Thus, returning the earth to it’s pristine, medieval state that liberals and their environmental extremists irrationally long to see.
eagleproducer on March 23 at 9:53 a.m.
Hawken: So we are being gouged (again) by oil companies. Big shocker. You forgot to blame Obama. You are getting sloppy. Step your game up!
eagleproducer on March 23 at 9:55 a.m.
oops, I see I spoke too soon…
“pristine and medieval” side by side!
What would be the “medieval” period of Earth’s history? The Mezozoic? Oh, wait, according to Hawken and other creationists, it would be around the time of the birth of Jesus.
Cars are for suckers.
pinkbutter on March 23 at 10:42 a.m.
I’m thankful the scenic river roads are not going to be as threatened.
oneanddone on March 23 at 11:26 a.m.
I got stuck following an oversized load like this down I84 out of Oregon. They blocked the freeway for an hour before pulling over enough to let one lane through. Don’t tell me going down 95 and/or I90 is a good idea. These business are buying what they want via the Idaho legislators.
ZagChuck on March 23 at 11:31 a.m.
@ Eagle,
Most of the blame for the high price in oil is with the Obama adminstration. They continue to print currency, devaluing the dollar. Everytime they print/devalue, the price in oil goes up.
Keep blaiming the oil companies though. why let facts get in the way of liberal talking points?
ghost99 on March 23 at 3:42 p.m.
All you conservatives just keep doing the “aw-shucks” dance. Your boy W, who refused to put his two wars into the budget because he didn’t want to be held accountable (but is anyway) is most of the cause of our woes. It was under W’s watch that the economy employed, before the election. I seem to remember McCain rushing to DC during the run to the election to handle it for the country … conservative revisionists. Fool yourself. The megaloads were a joke from the start. And why are any of you feeling sorry for the robber barons of the oil industry? They who make billions and billions in profit while the world spirals down in misery. If they have to spend some of their loot to cut the darn things, then so be it. Using US95 is another joke, though … and how about those passes going towards Montana on I-90? You know, I’ll bet that one of the reasons why they doing want to use Highway 12 is that they’d be responsible to repave the whole bloody thing after their overweight loads tore it up. Some moron of an engineer finally tumbled to that one. Idaho can’t pay for the road repairs … our state is broke. Maybe Washington should allow it to go through Colville?? It would take 3 months to inch through Spokane, as no one has seeen fit to complete a North/South freeway.
straighttalk on March 23 at 5:45 p.m.
The article is in error; all along the Exxonn loads have been stated as 174 not 114. There are/were 34 now 68 at Port; still shouldn’t be on any US roads — this is totally a Canadian project and business. All for a $1,000 permit and a performance bond. Good luck getting any reimbursement for road damage. The whole thing was wrong to begin with.
Watch for Pam Lowe’s lawsuit against Gov/Idaho. Should be some interesting information come from that court case.
misjustice on March 23 at 6:02 p.m.
“Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil” ; the opperative word here is IMPERIAL!
; )