Lac Mégantic rail disaster company MM&A files for bankruptcy - Business - CBC News
No big surprise there. They've been sued for millions.
No big surprise there. They've been sued for millions.
Surprise surprise
- Thread starter Nuggler
- Start date
"Edward Jazlowiecki, a U.S. lawyer representing a number of Lac-Mégantic families in a separate class action lawsuit, told CBC Radio's As It Happens that he is "not at all" worried about getting compensation for families. "MMA is just a small cog in the wheel," he said from Forestville, Conn. "The parent company, Rail World Group, has assets all over the country. They've got assets in Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine.
"They're all over the place, it's a huge, huge conglomerate.""
Let's hope he's right. Difficult to replace a loved one. Try suing someone in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine.
Actually, some of the CEO's should go to prison. Knowingly for years, cutting back on personnel and safety.
Betcha the dic k head of the CPR is going..........."whew", because it could have been them. Not in Megantic, but somewhere. Could still be. Find some railroaders and ask them what's happening.
This is a typical 'privatize the profits and socialize the loses' case that we see all to often.
Taxpayers both in Quebec and Federally will end up paying for the repairs, legal fights and other associated costs while this drags out for who knows how many years and at the end of the day Montreal, Maine & Atlantic will claim to not have the money.
I suggest that any such business involved in hauling dangerous product by required to have Insurance that would cover such costs.........
In announcing the bankruptcy, Burkhardt said operations will continue and his employees will keep working to help clean up the burnt-out, toxic site.
Burkhardt’s comments are reminiscent of BP’s former CEO, Tony Hayward. After 11 deaths and with the blown-out Deepwater Horizon well disgorging crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Hayward complained that “there’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do. I’d like my life back.”
Burkhardt, a Yale graduate and a specialist in both cost-cutting and privatization of state-owned railways, ran a company that had far more accidents than similar firms and which at first tried to blame the Lac- Mégantic derailment on local firefighters.
When that was shown to be bull, MM&A fired the employee who was supposed to have secured the train before he went off shift for the night.
Until then, it’s just the bankruptcy process, which won’t do much toward cleaning up the company’s mess. Bankruptcy protects the assets of companies and creditors, it doesn’t right wrongs. And now there’s a lineup of governments, families and others trying to get on the list of secured creditors.
By the way, the top creditor is the U.S. government, which is owed $27.5 million. The third-largest creditor is a pair of companies controlled by Burkhardt.
And costs will be astronomical. The environmental cleanup alone will exceed $200 million and MM&A only has $25 million in insurance coverage.
At the bankruptcy hearing, Justice Martin Castonguay said he was “not impressed” with what he called MM&A’s “lamentable behaviour.” He suggested MM&A’s directors should be held personally responsible.
LEGER: Who pays for corporate recklessness? | The Chronicle Herald
Taxpayers both in Quebec and Federally will end up paying for the repairs, legal fights and other associated costs while this drags out for who knows how many years and at the end of the day Montreal, Maine & Atlantic will claim to not have the money.
I suggest that any such business involved in hauling dangerous product by required to have Insurance that would cover such costs.........
In announcing the bankruptcy, Burkhardt said operations will continue and his employees will keep working to help clean up the burnt-out, toxic site.
Burkhardt’s comments are reminiscent of BP’s former CEO, Tony Hayward. After 11 deaths and with the blown-out Deepwater Horizon well disgorging crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Hayward complained that “there’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do. I’d like my life back.”
Burkhardt, a Yale graduate and a specialist in both cost-cutting and privatization of state-owned railways, ran a company that had far more accidents than similar firms and which at first tried to blame the Lac- Mégantic derailment on local firefighters.
When that was shown to be bull, MM&A fired the employee who was supposed to have secured the train before he went off shift for the night.
Until then, it’s just the bankruptcy process, which won’t do much toward cleaning up the company’s mess. Bankruptcy protects the assets of companies and creditors, it doesn’t right wrongs. And now there’s a lineup of governments, families and others trying to get on the list of secured creditors.
By the way, the top creditor is the U.S. government, which is owed $27.5 million. The third-largest creditor is a pair of companies controlled by Burkhardt.
And costs will be astronomical. The environmental cleanup alone will exceed $200 million and MM&A only has $25 million in insurance coverage.
At the bankruptcy hearing, Justice Martin Castonguay said he was “not impressed” with what he called MM&A’s “lamentable behaviour.” He suggested MM&A’s directors should be held personally responsible.
LEGER: Who pays for corporate recklessness? | The Chronicle Herald
Taxpayers on the hook for Lac Mégantic damage: expect the same for pipelines
Economist and former ICBC CEO Robyn Allan says the situation of Lac-Mégantic, in which the rail company responsible for the crash was unable to pay for damage costs, is sadly all too common.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic lost its license to operate in Canada on Tuesday after the Lac-Mégantic, Québec explosion that killed 47 people and left the Canadian government to pay $60 million since the rail company itself didn't have enough to pay.
While Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud (who is running for governor in Maine) told Railway Age that he finds Canada's decision "concerning" for the future of his state's businesses, it opened up many questions around oil transportation and liability in the event of a disaster.
In total, the damage caused by the Lac-Mégantic crude train explosion is expected to cost a minimum of $200 million. MM&A's Canadian subsidiary had nowhere even close to that amount: it carries $25 million in insurance, and just $18 million in assets. By default, the federal government, Quebec's provincial government (and now, possibly Canadian Pacific Railway) are left to cover whatever MM&A can't afford.
Public "left on the hook"
As for a pipeline expansion like Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain, Vancouver is pushing for liability to be expanded beyond the current maximum of $1.3 billion for marine spills. Even though $1 billion has become something of a benchmark for insurance, larger incidents such as the BP spill can reach $20 billion just for direct cleanup. Allan's study submitted to the Tanker Safety Expert Panel proposes that under the current regime, the funds available for major spills have proven "woefully insufficient".
more
Taxpayers on the hook for Lac Mégantic damage: expect the same for pipelines, says economist | The Vancouver Observer
Economist and former ICBC CEO Robyn Allan says the situation of Lac-Mégantic, in which the rail company responsible for the crash was unable to pay for damage costs, is sadly all too common.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic lost its license to operate in Canada on Tuesday after the Lac-Mégantic, Québec explosion that killed 47 people and left the Canadian government to pay $60 million since the rail company itself didn't have enough to pay.
While Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud (who is running for governor in Maine) told Railway Age that he finds Canada's decision "concerning" for the future of his state's businesses, it opened up many questions around oil transportation and liability in the event of a disaster.
In total, the damage caused by the Lac-Mégantic crude train explosion is expected to cost a minimum of $200 million. MM&A's Canadian subsidiary had nowhere even close to that amount: it carries $25 million in insurance, and just $18 million in assets. By default, the federal government, Quebec's provincial government (and now, possibly Canadian Pacific Railway) are left to cover whatever MM&A can't afford.
Public "left on the hook"
As for a pipeline expansion like Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain, Vancouver is pushing for liability to be expanded beyond the current maximum of $1.3 billion for marine spills. Even though $1 billion has become something of a benchmark for insurance, larger incidents such as the BP spill can reach $20 billion just for direct cleanup. Allan's study submitted to the Tanker Safety Expert Panel proposes that under the current regime, the funds available for major spills have proven "woefully insufficient".
more
Taxpayers on the hook for Lac Mégantic damage: expect the same for pipelines, says economist | The Vancouver Observer
So why are the assets of the company not turned directly over to the government to recoup some of the costs? Why do the owners of the company get off scott free? Doesn't seem right.