Megaload bound for Canada delayed in Oregon

PORTLAND – A load of oil refinery equipment approaching a million pounds and bound for the tar sands of western Canada was expected to begin moving through Eastern Oregon on Monday after a night’s delay.

The load is the first of three that a Hillsboro company specializing in jumbo shipments is expected to haul through Oregon, Idaho and Montana on its way to Alberta.

The 901,000-pound load is for a water purification system described as vital to the oil extraction project.

It was supposed to leave the Port of Umatilla along the Columbia River on Sunday night, but “the equipment took longer than expected to load up,” said Holly Zander, spokeswoman for Omega Morgan.

Its height precludes travel on Interstate 84, except for a short stretch near Pendleton where it will use on- and off-ramps to get around overpasses, the agency said.

Oregon rules allow the megaload to move only after dark.

The route planned through Eastern Oregon is about 315 miles.