More than 30 Helena residents who have filed a lawsuit against BNSF allege the company's nearby rail yards have contaminated their property with diesel fuel and other toxins.

"Their main concern is that they're living on polluted property," attorney Mark Kovacich, who is representing the 32 plaintiffs, said Friday. "Montana law affords them some remedies in this case."

According to the lawsuit, the Helenans are seeking damages to clean up the contamination in addition to actual and punitive damages.

The complaint, which was filed in District Court on Jan. 24, has not yet been served to BNSF, Kovacich said. Once served, the company will have about a month to respond, Kovacich added.

The company does not comment on legal matters, a BNSF spokesperson said.

The suit claims thousands of gallons of toxic substances have been dumped into the ground, contaminating the property owned or rented by the plaintiffs, most of who live within a few hundred yards of the BNSF fueling station, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs allege their health and property values have been compromised by the contaminants disposed of near their homes.

According the lawsuit, BNSF officials knew the extent of the contamination but failed to warn the plaintiffs of the dangers.

The Helena lawsuit is among several lawsuits filed against the company in recent years.

The city of Livingston, six businesses and nearly 100 residents filed a lawsuit in September in Park County against BNSF and Envirocon, the company's environmental consultant.

That lawsuit alleges that BNSF caused the release of "alarming quantities" of hazardous materials into the soil, surface water and groundwater in Livingston, and asks for damages.

In 2003, the company settled a class-action lawsuit involving about 80 Havre residents who said diesel fuel that leaked into their groundwater from a neighboring rail yard ruined their property values and threatened their health.

The terms of the settlement weren't made public, but the company ended up buying many of the homes in the area. Neither BNSF nor the landowners would say whether the purchase agreements were part of the settlement.

According to Department of Environmental Quality records, spills and leaks from fueling activities at the Helena BNSF rail yard have contaminated soils and shallow groundwater with petroleum hydrocarbons, primarily diesel, the report states.

BNSF and the DEQ have conducted several investigations over the years to determine the extent of the contamination around the Helena rail yard. One survey showed a sizable area of diesel contamination extending beyond the rail yard and through a residential neighborhood.

The Helena fueling facility is one of 28 BNSF properties on the state Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act priority site list. The Helena rail yard is considered a high priority by the DEQ, but the company has not been required to undertake any remediation, a DEQ spokeswoman said.