Covers might be seen soon on BNSF Railway cars carrying coal in the northwestern part of the U.S.
It’s part of a tentative agreement reached this week between the rail company that rolls through Oklahoma with environmental groups who alleged the coal spilled from the trains has polluted waterways in Washington state.
BNSF has denied the violations but agreed to pay $1 million in environmental projects in the state and to clean up some areas where coal has accumulated along the tracks.
The agreement means a postponement of a federal trial in Seattle. Seven environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council sued BNSF in 2013, charging the rail line with violating the federal Clean Water Act.
The agreement is not a guarantee that BNSF will put covers on its coal cars. But Charlie Tebbutt, lead attorney in the lawsuit is hoping it will.
“This puts them on a path to the ultimate solution to stop the discharge of coal into our nation’s waterways,” he said.
Too early to tell if it means BNSF coal cars in Oklahoma will also be covered.
“We’ll have to work through the study and see what comes from that and how it would impact not only BNSF but the industry,” said Courtney Wallace, a spokeswoman for the rail line.