Swinomish Tribe prepares for appeals court hearing in oil train lawsuit

Thursday, January 24, 2019

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing arguments in a dispute between the Swinomish Tribe and rail company in Washington state.

At issue is a right-of-way that allowed BNSF Railway to run trains through the reservation. The tribe claims BNSF violated the agreement by increasing the number of trains without its consent.

“A deal is a deal,” Chairman Brian Cladoosby said when the lawsuit was filed nearly four years ago. He said BNSF is sending as many as six trains with 100 cars through the reservation every week, far above the one train with 25 cars envisioned by the right-of-way.

The tribe so far has obtained preliminary rulings which have allowed the case to move forward. But BNSF asked the 9th Circuit to intervene in hopes of resolving the lawsuit before a final decision can be reached, GoSkagit.Com reported.

Despite the unusual request, the tribe did not object to going straight to the 9th Circuit, GoSkagit reported.

The Suquamish Tribe, the Tulalip Tribes and the Quinault Nation have filed a friend of the court brief in support of Swinomish. So have the states of Oregon and New York.

A date for arguments hasn't been set but dates are being considered in May, June and July, according to court documents.

Turtle Talk has posted some of the briefs in the case, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community v BNSF Railway Company.