WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will hold a hearing next month to consider a Powder River Basin coal producer’s request for an emergency service order that would require BNSF Railway to handle more volume from the Spring Creek Mine in Montana.
The board will hold oral arguments on May 10 where Navajo Transitional Energy Co. and BNSF will plead their cases.
NTEC, in an April 14 complaint, says BNSF has failed to provide adequate service from the Spring Creek Mine to the Westshore Terminals at Roberts Bank in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. The mining company alleges that BNSF violated its common carrier obligations by failing to provide adequate service.
The coal company, in a separate filing, also seeks an emergency service order from the STB that would require BNSF to handle 29 loaded trains per month beginning May 1.
BNSF handled 17 NTEC trains in February and 22 in March, which NTEC says was below the 24 to 30 trains per month that the coal company sought as part of a Nov. 1, 2022, service request. The coal is exported to customers in Japan and South Korea.
BNSF has urged federal regulators to reject NTEC’s request for an emergency service order, arguing that its desire to take advantage of the hot export coal market does not constitute an emergency.
BNSF told the STB it’s still experiencing capacity constraints in the Pacific Northwest. Ordering BNSF to increase service to Spring Creek mine would require the railroad to reduce service to other Powder River Basin customers, the railway told the board.
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