( March 18, 2025, 2:54 PM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — Railways carrying material under federal law are common carriers and can’t be held strictly liable, and federal law preempts state laws attempting to do so, BNSF Railway Co. tells a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a March 17 brief, hoping to erase an $8 million asbestos verdict stemming from its handling of asbestos-tainted vermiculite at the Libby, Mont., mine....