CHICAGO — A federal judge has brushed off efforts by Cicero, Ill., to block a BNSF Railway lawsuit over a $1 million increase in sewer rates, saying the ordinance targeted at the railroad’s yard “does not simply impact railroads — it effectively holds them hostage.”
The Cook County Record reports that U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger wrote in his decision that “Cicero sent BNSF an unmistakable message: Pay up, or get run out of town … It’s at least plausible that the 1,000% spike in sewer rates interferes with rail service and prevents BNSF from carrying out its business.”
BNSF filed suit in June 2021 after Cicero passed an ordinance requiring railroads, and only railroads, to a pay a $350-per-acre charge for sewer service, which led the railroad’s sewer bills to increase by 1,250%, from $6,643 to $90,300 per month [see “Illinois town, BNSF square off in lawsuits …,” Trains News Wire, July 22, 2021]. The town argued the rate increase was necessary to address storm runoff from BNSF’s major yard in the city, and also sued over flooding near the railroad’s Cicero Yard; that suit has since been combined with the current action in U.S. District Court.
Seeger had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the Cicero rate increase, saying BNSF would likely ultimately prevail in the dispute.
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