Stand up for Western Montana at Monday's City Council meeting (May 10th):
SAY NO to the proposed Tar Sands trucks corridor,
and SUPPORT the City Council's resolution against the proposed Tar Sands shipments
You've heard about the proposed establishment of an oversize truck corridor through Missoula,
designed to carry foreign-made equipment to the Alberta Tar Sands.
You're concerned about the impacts to your neighborhood, our economy, the Lochsa R., Lolo Ck., and the Blackfoot.
Now's the time to make your voice
heard.
On Monday, May 10th, at 7 PM, at 140 W. Pine St.,
the Missoula City Council will vote on a resolution that would serve as the City's official comment
on the Montana Department of Transportation's Environmental Assessment.
Your city council members need to hear from you.
Join UM Climate Action Now, Northern Rockies Rising Tide, and the No Shipments Network
in supporting a strong resolution (see attached) in opposition to the Tar Sands truck corridor:
Monday, May 10th, at 7PM
Missoula City Council Chambers
140 West Pine St.
(next to Sean Kelly's Pub)
To review the Environmental Assessment, visit: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/eis_ea.shtml
On Monday, May 10th, the City Council will be voting on an excellent resolution stating the City's concerns about the proposed project (see attached for full resolution). The resolution calls for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the Montana Environmental Policy Act, as well as an EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act. Only an EIS, at both the state and federal levels, will adequately address the range of direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the creation of a permanent Tar Sands trucks corridor,
as well as the effects of Tar Sands development in Alberta.
The Alberta Tar Sands have been called out in the
international community as the worst industrial project on the face of the planet, and the single largest contributor to global climate change in North America. Currently, Imperial Oil, a subsidiary of Exxon-Mobil, is planning to invest $70 million to open up a new northwest corridor to ship Tar Sands mining equipment from South Korea to Alberta. The proposed route begins in international waters, comes up the Columbia and Snake Rivers to the Port of Lewiston, and from there moves along the Lochsa river, up over Lolo pass, through Missoula, up the Blackfoot River, over Rogers Pass and up the Front, to the Port of Sweetgrass on the Alberta border. The trucks carrying the equipment are, at their largest, 24 feet wide, 30 feet tall, and 220 feet long; the size of a three story building with the length of almost a football field. They will weigh up to 600,000 pounds, or 300
tons. For photos of the trucks, visit http://techxorcist.net/kearl.htm.
If the currently proposed project goes forward, it is likely that hundreds,
if not thousands of trucks will pass through the Missoula area in the next decade, and beyond.
The Environmental Assessment as required by Montana Department of Transportation regulations has just come out but does not adequately address the impacts these shipments will have on local communities, emergency vehicle passage, highway infrastructure, or environmental damage from new road construction and truck traffic. Most importantly, the assessment does not even mention the impacts Tar Sands mining has on climate change, even though Montana will continue to be disproportionately affected by the perpetuation of
fossil fuel development.
The scope of the Assessment is drastically limited and does not take into account the entire route through which these shipments will pass. By only completing an Environmental Assessment within the state of Montana, Exxon Mobil is circumventing any federal process that would require them to look at the shipment route as a whole. We need to press for a full Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act to take into full account all the damages that Tar Sands mining generates, along with the transportation of this equipment. Exxon-Mobil can continue to use the existing transportation route from Houston, TX to the Tar Sands - the equipment does not need to come through Western
Montana.
Join us on Monday, May 10th, and stand beside fellow concerned Missoulians in supporting this City Council resolution.
Sincerely,
UM Climate Action NowNorthern Rockies Rising Tide
No Shipments Network
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