The company responsible for transporting Imperial Oil refinery equipment in megaloads will be receiving a bill from the Latah County Sheriff’s Department and the City of Moscow Police Department for overtime fees.
But it was not a surprise — it is something MPD and the Sheriff’s Department planned for.
Mammoet is a Netherlands-based transportation company contracted by Imperial Oil to ship oil refinery equipment from the Port of Lewiston to Alberta, Canada.
“It all started with the protesters here in town,” said Wayne Rausch, Latah County sheriff.
Because of the constant protests to the megaloads coming through town, law enforcement has had to be on the scene to ensure public safety, Rausch said.
“You prepare for the worst case scenario, so you are prepared for whatever happens. We staff accordingly,” Rausch said. “We were caught off guard (by protesters) the first time the loads came through — it wasn’t thought there would be a problem.”
County and city police have incurred overtime by monitoring the protests since August.
“They started contacting us at every load to staff the area,” Rausch said. “It’s starting to get expensive.”
The Idaho State Police are contracted with Mammoet to escort the loads and ensure public safety is followed, according to Capt. Lonnie Richardson of the Idaho State Police. Because of their contract, ISP receives reimbursement from Mammoet for the overtime they incur while on duty escorting the loads.
“They (Latah County Sheriff’s Department and City of Moscow Police Department) have the option to enter into a contract, but have not opted to do so,” Richardson said.
Initially, Rausch said he did not favor billing.
“I look at it from a legal and practical standpoint,” Rausch said. “Mammoet had received court approval and ISP approval. The protesters were given the option to have public meetings to express their opinions, they were allowed to redress grievances, but consequently didn’t like the answer.”
He added that there is a point when petitioning becomes civil disobedience, and the protesters have reached that point.
“Mammoet has stated they are willing to reimburse fees to ensure loads pass safely,” Rausch said. “What we’re doing now is calculating figures, since we have to compute each individual deputy’s time so we can honestly account for everyone’s time.”
Rausch said they should be done calculating and ready to send the bill to Mammoet Wednesday.