BNSF Ordered to Pay $394M to Tribe for Oil Train Agreement Violation

A federal judge has decided that BNSF Railway owes the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington State $394.5 million for breaking an agreement that governs railway operations across tribal land.

Following a four-day bench trial, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik of the Western District of Washington arrived at that conclusion, according to The Seattle Times. In September 2012 and May 2021, he had previously declared that the railroad had broken a 1991 agreement by operating crude-oil trains across a less than one-mile section of the Swinomish Reservation. Last year, Lasnik concluded that the railroad had broken the agreement, which permitted only one train of no more than 25 cars per train in each direction per day, "willingly, consciously, and knowingly."

Swinomish and the railway agreed that over 266,000 cars had broken the agreement, bringing in over $900 million in revenue, but they couldn't agree on the appropriate penalty. Lasnik's decision breaks down the profits per vehicle and subtracts the amount that could have been generated through legal actions. It concludes that the trespassing resulted in approximately $362.2 million in profits for the railroad, plus an additional $32.2 million in post-tax profits from investment income.

In answer to a FreightWaves inquiry, BNSF indicated it had no comment. The company's headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas.