It is reported that the owners of the Elk Creek Mine near Somerset in western Colorado have sued two major railroads, accusing them of working together to drive up the cost of shipping coal.

The suit was filed in US District Court in the District of Columbia by a group of sister companies based at West Palm Beach in Florida.
1. Oxbow Carbon & Minerals LLC
2. Oxbow Mining LLC
3. Oxbow Calcining International LLC
4. Oxbow Midwest Calcining LLC
5. Oxbow Calcining LLC
6. Terror Creek LLC

The companies sued Union Pacific Railroad Corp of Omaha, Neb and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co of Fort Worth. Mr Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Inc based in Omaha bought Burlington Northern in 2010.

Ms Steve Forsberg a spokesman for Burlington Northern said “BNSF has not colluded or conspired in violation of any law. We will respond through the legal process after we have had an opportunity to fully review the complaint.”

Mr Tom Lange a spokesman for Union Pacific told Bloomberg the company hasn’t seen the complaint yet and declined to comment.

Mr Barry Brett of Troutman Sanders LLP co-counsel for the Oxbow companies in the lawsuit in a statement said “The complaint filed today describes how the railroads have used monopolization and price-fixing illegally to drive up the price of shipping coal and many other products, and those higher prices affect every business and consumer in the country.”

The lawsuit alleges Union Pacific and BNSF also worked with two other railroads to use fuel surcharges to raise shipping prices. The suit asked the judge to rule the railroads had violated federal antitrust laws and asked for three times the monetary damages that would be shown at trial.

Mr Bill Koch chairman of the board and CEO of Oxbow in a statement said “Union Pacific and BNSF have systematically gouged their customers, and the result is higher prices for everybody from companies that rely on them to ship their goods to the consumers who buy products shipped on those lines.”

(Sourced from www.bizjournals.com)