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Foul Weather, Not Protesters, Cause Latest Delay For Megaload

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File photo of a megaload parked along Idaho’s Highway 12. A federal judge blocked the route to further megaload traffic until the Forest Service reviews the impact to a wild and scenic corridor.
Jessica Robinson

A so-called megaload is stuck just a few miles south of Pendleton on it’s winding route through the Northwest.

But it’s foul weather, rather than protesters, that’s causing the latest delay for an extra large shipment of oil equipment in eastern Oregon.

Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Strandberg says it’s not clear when the vehicle will be able to move again.

"They can’t move when there’s snow, ice or foggy conditions that would create hazards," he says. "And right now, we had quite a bit of snow dumped around the area, especially in the mountain passes.”

The megaload takes up two highway lanes and stretches 380 feet.

Protesters from across the region turned out for two nights in a row earlier in the week. Hillsboro, Oregon-based shipper Omega Morgan plans another two megaload shipments sometime this winter, bound for the oil sands of Alberta, Canada.

Copyright 2013 Northwest News Network

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Anna King loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network, a journalism collaboration of public radio stations in Washington and Oregon that includes JPR.