After environmental damage

US railroad company must pay tribe millions

After the derailment of two locomotives in 2023, thousands of liters of diesel leaked into the soil of the reserve.

(Bild: APA/AP)

A Texas railroad company must pay the indigenous Swinomish tribe almost 400 million US dollars (approx. 373 million euros) for transporting crude oil through their reservation in Washington state without authorization. This was decided by a US court in Seattle on Monday. The tribe had already been proven right in an earlier ruling. The question now was how much money the company had earned from the transports and therefore had to cede to the tribe.

The judge responsible explained that it was unclear how the company had invested its unlawful profits and what other returns had been generated as a result. He assumed that those responsible had made far more profit from their misconduct - however, in view of the amount of the reparation payment now calculated, he refrained from awarding an even larger sum.

Railroad company did not stick to agreement
According to the "Seattle Times" newspaper, the company has been using tracks running through the tribal territory with the permission of the Swinomish since 1991. According to the agreement, however, no more than 25 wagons may be transported per day. The Swinomish must also be informed about the type of freight. The tribe filed a lawsuit in 2015 after the company sent significantly more railcars loaded with crude oil to nearby refineries without having received specific permission for the freight or quantity.

The Swinomish tribal area is located on the Pacific coast in the northwest of the USA. Fishing is of great cultural and economic importance to the community. Last year, the derailment of two locomotives on the reservation spilled thousands of liters of diesel fuel into the environment.