Judge orders BNSF to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million for trespassing with oil trains
This photo provided by the Washington Department of Ecology shows a derailed BNSF train on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes, Wash. on March 16, 2023. A federal judge on Monday, June 17, 2024 ordered BNSF Railway to pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across its reservation. (Washington Department of Ecology via AP)
SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ordered BNSF Railway to pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across its reservation.
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik initially ruled last year that the the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day. The judge held a trial early this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing and how much it should be required to disgorge.
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