"BNSF Fuel Train Derails On Swinomish Reservation"

"Diesel spill comes as BNSF and tribe head to court in a right-of-way dispute".

"SWINOMISH RESERVATION, Washington — A BNSF train leaving a Western Washington oil refinery with diesel fuel derailed shortly after midnight on March 16 on the Swinomish Reservation about 80 miles north of Seattle.

It was one of three BNSF derailments in three days and occured just days before the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and BNSF Railway prepare to go to trial over the company’s apparent violation of a right-of-way and easement agreement on the tribe’s lands.

The BNSF derailments come amid renewed national attention to rail safety after a toxic derailment last month in East Palestine, Ohio, and other derailments in Michigan, Alabama and elsewhere.

No injuries were reported and no fuel is believed to have entered an adjacent bay that is a habitat for salmon, forage fish, shellfish, seals, otters, shorebirds and bald eagles. Authorities believe up to 3,100 gallons of fuel spilled into a berm on the landside of the tracks."

Richard Arlin Walker reports for ICT March 18, 2023.

Source: ICT, 03/20/2023