Forest Agency Suspends Megaloads On Portion of Highway 12

Federal forest administrators issued an order to suspend megaloads from a section of U.S. Highway 12 that runs through north-central Idaho, the Associated Press reported.

The order targets a 100-mile stretch of the roadway that passes through the Lochsa-Clearwater Wild and Scenic River corridor.

The closure applies to any load that exceeds 16 feet in width, 150 feet in length or takes more than 12 hours to travel through the corridor, AP reported.

Oregon-based hauler Omega Morgan trucked a 225-foot-long, 640,000-pound water evaporator along the route earlier this year, touching off protests from Nez Perce tribal members.

Idaho’s Nez Perce Tribe has said the large shipments of gear heading to Alberta’s tar sands damage the environment and cause irreparable harm to the tribe’s rights and interests.

The tribe has been demanding that no further shipments be allowed through the area without tribal consultation or the completion of a corridor impact study scrutinizing how shipments might harm its treaty rights, according to AP.

The closure order is effective immediately and is in place until the agency agrees to lift it, most likely when forest officials complete an environmental impact study on the river corridor, according to AP.