Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF ordered to pay almost $400M to Native American tribe
- A federal judge on Monday ordered Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) BNSF Railway to pay almost $400M to a Native American tribe after finding the company intentionally trespassed when it ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across its reservation multiple times, the Associated Press reported.
- U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnick ruled last year that the railway violated terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle, Washington. That agreement allowed BNSF to run no more than 25 cars per day through the territory.
- The judge held a trial early in June to determine how much in profits BNSF made through the trespassing and how much it should be required to pay.
- BNSF declined to comment on the ruling.
- The tribe sued BNSF in 2015 after the railway dramatically increased, without the tribe's consent the number of cars traveling through the reservation to move crude oil from the Bakken Formation in and around North Dakota to a nearby facility.
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A) acquired BNSF in 2010 for $26B.