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How much should BNSF pay tribe for breaking agreements? Part 2! [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-18  

Back on June 4 I wrote about an article in the Seattle Times about how BNSF had been violating its 1991 easement agreement with the Swinomish Tribe. Negotiations were going on at the time on how much BNSF should pay for major violations of the easement terms.

Today’s Seattle Times top front page article is out — BNSF owes tribe $400 million for trespassing in oil transport.

And the latest article makes it clear that the violations date back to 1889 when one of the predecessor companies that became part of BNSF laid the first tracks with no permission at all across Swinomish land — from the article:

In 1889, BNSF’s predecessor illegally constructed it through the Swinomish Reservation. The tribe objected, and court documents show the railway failed to obtain permission by treaty or an act of Congress before completing the railroad.

The railroad used the “easement” without permission from 1889 on. The tribe objected again in 1970, were unable to come to agreement with BNSF, and asked the US to bring a lawsuit against the railway, demanding removal of the line. In the fall of 1977 BNSF was denied a right of way application by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

An easement agreement was finally reached between the Swinomish and BNSF in 1991 — and promptly violated by BNSF, as documented in the June 4 Seattle Times article.

I hope this $400M (actually $395M but interest is a wonderful thing...) is upheld, and the Swinomish Tribe is busy calculating the costs for the 100+ years BEFORE the 1991easement was reached and appropriate criminal penalties for that ongoing violation AND the immediate and continuing breach of terms from 1991 on.

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