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BSNF joins lawsuit against Washington over stalled coal export terminal

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BSNF joins lawsuit against Washington over stalled coal export terminal

BNSF Railway Co. is joining a lawsuit filed by Lighthouse Resources Inc against Washington officials over a proposed coal export terminal.

Lighthouse's suit alleges that Gov. Jay Inslee, the director of the Washington Department of Ecology and the state's commissioner of public lands violated federal trade laws when they denied multiple permits for the planned Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview.

In its complaint in intervention, filed Feb. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, BNSF said Inslee and other state officials "have misused their state regulatory authority to prevent interstate and international commerce involving coal transport, because they oppose the use of coal."

The railway said the coal it would transport would not be used in Washington but would travel through the state to eventual destinations in Asia.

"Specifically, the coal would move by rail within Washington, much of which lies within BNSF's congressionally granted railroad rights of way," the complaint said. "Defendants' impermissible actions and inactions show that they intend to stop coal from being used halfway across the globe by building a regulatory wall to stop the expanded flow of coal in interstate and foreign commerce."

Echoing Lighthouse's suit, the railway said the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government exclusive authority to administer foreign affairs, free from local interference, and pre-empts state laws "that intrude on this solely federal power."

Tara Lee, spokesperson for Inslee's office, said, "We are confident that Ecology can defend its permitting decision as the appeals process moves forward."

Legal experts have said the Lighthouse lawsuit, and another similar suit involving the planned Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal in California, invoke a broader constitutional debate over a state's powers to make decisions that affect commerce.

In the Oakland Bulk case, a federal judge ordered a trial to examine whether the city breached its contract with the terminal developer when it decided to ban coal exports from the proposed facility.

A panel of Utah lawmakers also gave initial approval to a proposal to use $2 million to challenge California's "burdensome" and "unlawful" coal regulations in court.