ANACORTES, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Swinomish Tribe has settled its years-long trespass dispute with BNSF Railway.
The tribe announced on Tuesday that it’s agreed to new terms with BNSF to resolve a lawsuit originally brought up by the tribe in 2015.
“From the beginning, our goal has been to protect our homeland – and our sovereign right to control how our land is used – as well as to ensure that the promises made to our ancestors in the Treaty of Point Elliott and in BNSF’s easement agreement were honored. We filed this lawsuit in 2015 to stop the trains that were running across Swinomish land without the Tribe’s required consent,” Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards said.
My Bellingham Now previously reported that a federal judge ordered BNSF to pay $400 million to the tribe last year after repeatedly running 100-car trains across the tribe’s reservation.
BNSF’s actions violated a 1991 agreement between the two sides that requires the tribe’s consent when it carries an extensive number of cars across Swinomish land. But BNSF appealed the judge’s decision and has since been in mediation with the Swinomish Tribe to come to a settlement.
Under their new agreement, BNSF is allowed to run one train carrying crude oil per day across the reservation.
According to the tribe, the lower volume of oil being transported is expected to reduce the risk of spills and threats to marine habitat.
