Swinomish files lawsuit to stop oil trains

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in federal court against BNSF Railway, alleging violations of terms in an easement agreement that allows the trains to cross reservation land.

According to the complaint filed in the United States District Court in Seattle, the tribe and Burlington Northern were parties to a 1991 agreement granting the railway an easement, allowing one 25-car train per day in each direction to serve the refineries on March’s Point to cross the northern tip of the reservation.

Train tracks run on the north side of Highway 20 and cross the Swinomish Channel on a swing bridge and Padilla Bay on a trestle.

The tribe’s lawsuit claims that 100-car trains started running across the reservation to the Tesoro Refinery in 2012, and the railway now known as BNSF has refused requests to stop and has indicated that the number of trains will likely increase.

Furthermore, the lawsuit states that the tribe believes Tesoro has been taking rail shipments of Bakken crude oil, which comes from the Bakken shale fields in North Dakota, since July. Also, the suit claims the crude oil has been coming in rail cars that some officials at the National Transportation Safety Board have said are not strong enough to safely ship the volatile substance.

The lawsuit alleges that the trains are running more than four times the number railcars agreed to in the 1991 settlement.

A press release issued by the tribe quotes Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby saying, “We told BNSF to stop, again and again.”

He said the tribe asked the rail company to explain why more cars should be allowed. “But experiences across the country have now shown us all the dangers of Bakken crude,” Cladoosby stated. “It’s unacceptable for BNSF to put our people and our way of life at risk without regard to the agreement we established in good faith.”

The lawsuit also states that under the terms of the 1991 agreement, BNSF was supposed to provide the tribe with an annual summary of materials transported, but the railway never disclosed it was shipping Bakken crude oil, which some regulators and industry officials say is more flammable and, therefore, more dangerous to ship than oil from other regions.

The tribe seeks a judgment requiring BNSF to adhere to the terms of the 1991 easement agreement and also an injunction against running trains larger than 25 cars. Also, the tribe has requested a permanent injunction against the railway to prevent it from shipping Bakken crude oil over reservation land.