To the Editor:

I have a number of questions for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which issued the megaload permit.

The 901,000-pound megaload, parked just south of Pendleton on Highway 395, is spewing diesel fumes out to the neighbors around it, according to observers.  Does the permit issued by ODOT permit this discharge of air pollution? How long does ODOT expect it will be parked there? Is the freezing weather also causing engine fluids to leak into the soils around the area? What is the plan if the winter weather holds? Are they planning to move the load on through the narrow highways south of here in winter weather? If not, where will the store the load until spring?

Why wasnt there a longer public comment period to more carefully weight the risks of moving a load of this size along the highways of Eastern Oregon in hazardous winter weather?

It seems that big international corporate interests like those of General Electric, the company arranging this transport; Omega-Morgan, owned by a private equity firm Riverlake Partners; and the Chinese owned Athabasca Oil Corp. of Alberta, Canada, the destination for this load, are more important to our state employees than the voices of the citizens of the state who pay their wages.