Swinomish Indian Tribal Community v BNSF Railway Company

  1. July 12, 2024

    BNSF Puts Up $426M To Stay Tribe's Win Pending Appeal

    BNSF Railway Co. on Friday asked a federal judge to approve a $426 million security bond and to stay enforcement of a nearly $400 million judgment for trespassing across a Washington tribe's territory, while the railroad appeals.

  2. June 17, 2024

    BNSF Owes Wash. Tribe $400M For Oil Shipping Trespass

    BNSF Railway Co. must pay a Washington tribe nearly $400 million for years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, a federal judge in Seattle ruled Monday.

  3. May 30, 2024

    BNSF Says It Owes Tribe Up To $30M For Oil Train Trespasses

    BNSF Railway Co. said Wednesday it should pay a Washington tribe either $10 million or $30 million for years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, after a federal judge rejected both the railroad's $7 million and the tribe's $445 million calculations. 

  4. May 21, 2024

    BNSF Judge Said Trespass Payout Will Be Distance-Based

    BNSF Railway Co. will have to give up profits from at least part of its 1,500-mile oil shipment route to compensate a Washington tribe for nearly a decade of train trespassings across a less-than-mile-long easement, a federal judge ruled Monday.

  5. May 16, 2024

    BNSF Judge Vows To Avoid Extremes In Trespass Payout

    A federal judge said Thursday that BNSF Railway Co. will likely have to fork over profits from its entire 1,500-mile oil shipment route to compensate a Washington tribe for nearly a decade of train trespassings across a less-than-mile-long easement, but the judge said the disgorgement won't be the hundreds of millions the tribe is seeking.

  6. April 29, 2024

    BNSF Balks At $1.3B Demand For Trespass On Tribal Lands

    BNSF Railway Co. has told a federal Washington court to reject a tribe's bid for $1.3 billion in damages from years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, arguing that its financial responsibility should be limited to the small land area it trespassed.

  7. April 23, 2024

    BNSF Lowballing Oil Train Trespass Payout, Tribe Says

    A Washington tribe said Monday that BNSF Railway Co. raked in $500 million for shipping crude oil across its reservation for nearly a decade, calling the railroad's calculation that it should pay less than $175,000 for the illegal trespass an affront to the tribe's sovereign and treaty rights.

  8. April 01, 2024

    BNSF Says Tribe Can't Claim $1.3B For Oil Train Trespassings

    BNSF Railway Co. has asserted a Washington tribe is not entitled to $1.3 billion for the shipping of crude oil across its reservation for nearly a decade, arguing the tribe wants to strip railroad profits from a 1,500-mile route when the illegal trespassing occurred across an easement less than a mile long.

  9. July 18, 2023

    Judge Derails BNSF's Arb. Bid In Tribe's Oil Shipping Suit

    BNSF Railway Co. will have to hash out damages due to a Washington-based Native American tribe in court, a Washington federal judge ruled, rejecting the railway's bid to allow an arbitrator to determine the money it owes to the tribe for shipping crude oil across reservation land for more than eight years.

  10. June 05, 2023

    Wash. Tribe Fights BNSF's Arbitration Bid In Oil Shipping Row

    The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community says BNSF Railway Co. is attempting to force the tribe into arbitration based on a "plainly inapplicable arbitration clause," urging a Washington federal judge to reject the rail company's request that an arbitrator determine how much compensation BNSF owes to the tribe for shipping crude oil across reservation land for more than eight years.