The federal government has reached a settlement with BNSF Railway seven years after the company damaged a number of U.S. Forest Service roads in Lincoln County while cleaning up a train derailment.
On Aug. 3, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that BNSF would pay the federal government $200,000 to settle a lawsuit that was first filed in 2017. The railroad also vowed to spend $750,000 maintaining and repairing roads in the Kootenai National Forest.
The federal government’s lawsuit alleges that in February 2011, a grain train derailed along Wolf Creek Road in remote Lincoln County, east of Libby. The train spilled a large amount of grain that was later taken to the local landfill by a contractor. Soon after though the U.S. Forest Service had to close the road to overweight vehicles because of damage sustained while cleaning up the derailment. According to court documents, BNSF paid for some of the initial repairs in 2011 but stopped paying the government after 2012.
The lawsuit also states that the railroad had failed to pay for overweight vehicle permits or for its fair share of road maintenance in that area in recent years. According to federal prosecutors, commercial companies like BNSF often help pay for maintenance of roads that they use on public lands. In 2014 and 2015, the railroad owed the Kootenai National Forest $421,543.01 in unpaid overweight permit fees.
“This settlement demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that commercial road users such as BNSF Railway, which utilize public land and roads for their businesses, pay their fair share for the wear and tear they cause to our public resources,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme of the District of Montana. “Our office, in conjunction with the Forest Service, will continue to protect our public resources and ensure that taxpayers are not required to pay for damage caused by a business operating across federal land.”