Disputing the proper use of a two-lane highway in rural Idaho

Tom Zeller, Jr., reported a few days in the New York Times about a dispute in Idaho over the use of a two-lane road, Highway 12, in the vicinity of the Idaho/Montana state line, to transport massive equipment to Alberta, Canada, where it will be used in oil extraction from the tar sands.

[I]nternational oil companies see this meandering, backcountry route as a road to riches. They are angling to use U.S. 12 to ship gargantuan loads of equipment from Vancouver, Wash., to Montana and the tar sands of Alberta in Canada. The companies say the route would save time and money and provide a vital economic boost to Montana and Idaho.

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According to plans submitted to state regulators, some of the shipments would weigh more than 600,000 pounds, stand as tall as a three-story building, stretch nearly two-thirds the length of a football field and occupy 24 feet side-to-side — the full width of U.S. 12’s two lanes for much of its course through Idaho.

Husband and wife, Linwood Laughy and Borg Hendrickson, who live along Highway 12, have sued Conoco Phillips and Imperial Oil to stop this use of Highway 12. They argue that "the loads would threaten the integrity of Idaho’s historic portion of U.S. 12, as well as the safety of communities that depend on it as the main road in and out of the area." Environmentalist groups, seeing this as an effort to stop oil extraction from the sands, are supporting the couple's efforts.