Oilsands ‘megaloads’ in legal battle
Athabasca Oil vows to continue giant equipment moves in U.S.
CALGARY — Athabasca Oil Corp. says it plans to continue shipping gigantic equipment through Idaho to its Hangingstone thermal oilsands project despite protests that delayed its latest “mega-load” cargo this week.
But an American aboriginal tribe and environmental group vow to keep battling the shipments by seeking a court order to block Athabasca’s second shipment until there is further review of the impacts on the reservation and scenic areas along the corridor.
Blockades staged this week by aboriginals and other protesters delayed the company’s first shipment of a water-purification vessel by a day, which is “not a concern,” said Rick Koshman, vice-president of projects and thermal operations for Athabasca.
The vessel, called an evaporator, moved through the Idaho demonstrations and crossed into Montana on Friday, said Koshman, who expects the equipment will arrive at Hangingstone, 20 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray, between Aug. 26 and 28. The second shipment is expected to leave Port Wilma in Lewiston, Idaho, in a month.
The shipping company, Omega Morgan, is moving the equipment along a rural highway to avoid overpasses, given the vessel’s massive size. It’s the first of two oversized loads that Athabasca plans to transport from General Electric’s fabrication plant in Port Coquitlam, B.C., to its Hangingstone project, which is under construction.
Omega Morgan is transporting the loads along the same stretch of Idaho blacktop on which Imperial Oil had intended to transport 207 Korean-built oversized modules for its Kearl oilsands mine in 2011.
Imperial eventually gave up in the face of legal challenges and chopped the loads into smaller pieces and moved them on the interstate, where there are load size limits. The company has said the shipment problem was the single-largest factor that inflated the cost of the Kearl project by $2 billion, up to $12.9 billion.
“This is the name of the game now. Environmental and First Nations activists will continue to put pressure on oilsands companies in any way they can,” said Jared Dziuba, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets who covers Athabasca. Oilsands companies are increasingly importing big modules for their operations to keep on-site fabrication at a minimum, given labour shortages in Alberta and the sector’s drive to lower costs, Dziuba said.
Koshman said he could not comment on the challenge facing his second shipment — Athabasca takes possession only when the equipment arrives — but he stressed Omega Morgan has a transportation permit and is following state rules.
Protesters have said the shipping company did not comply with the traffic control plan it unveiled before it starting moving the shipment, including a provision stating it would not hold up vehicles travelling behind the truck for more than 10 minutes. Borg Hendrickson, who is part of an activist group called Fighting Goliath, said the truck had held up more than 20 vehicles for 40 minutes before crossing into Montana Friday morning.
The Nez Perce Tribe, whose reservation lies along the disputed Highway 12, and the environmental group Idaho Rivers United are seeking a court order that would spark a review before any more oversized loads move on the corridor.