Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Of megaloads, roadwork and delays…

In the second day of testimony at a court hearing in Missoula yesterday, an Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil official testified that delays in sending megaloads of oil field equipment through Montana and up to the Kearl oil sands project in Canada are proving problematic for the company. "Right now, we're readjusting our plans, but we're getting to the point where we're going to be doing out-of-sequence work," Ken Johnson, manager of the transport project for Imperial, said in Missoula District Court; you can read the full story here in today's Missoulian from reporter Kim Briggeman. A temporary restraining order currently is blocking roadwork needed for the giant loads to travel through Montana; the court hearing is on a possible injunction. Opponents of the loads there say more environmental review is needed for the roadwork. Imperial/Exxon's first load, a "test validation module" designed to test out the route, traveled through Idaho but is now parked at Lolo Hot Springs, awaiting the outcome of the Montana court case.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

Follow Betsy online: