OTTAWA (AP) - A Canadian government agency has determined that the U.S. rail company whose runaway train crashed into a small Quebec town, killing 47 people last month, has adequate insurance to keep operating for the next month and a half.
The Canadian Transportation Agency said the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway provided evidence it had adequate third-party liability insurance coverage to operate from Aug. 20 to Oct. 1, 2013. The agency's decision late Friday reversed an Aug. 13 order that would have halted the railroad's operations from early next week.
The agency said the rail company provided new facts and information demonstrating it had adequate third-party liability insurance for the short term. However, agency spokeswoman Jacqueline Bannister said Montreal, Maine & Atlantic must show it has the funds to pay the self-insured portion of its operations, or the regulator will suspend its operations from Aug. 23.
On July 6, an unmanned train, with 72 tankers of crude oil, came loose, derailed and crashed into the center of the town of Lac-Megantic near the Maine border in eastern Quebec. Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings. An estimated 1.48 million gallons (5.6 million liters) of oil were spilled.
The rail company was granted creditor protection on Aug. 8 after the company said it couldn't afford the cleanup and reconstruction costs for the town.
In its bankruptcy filings, the railway's Canadian subsidiary said it only had $25 million in insurance coverage, while estimating the environmental cleanup alone will exceed $200 million. The railway and its Canadian counterpart, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co., also cited debts to more than 200 creditors following the disaster.
A company attorney has said he expects executives to explore putting the rail company up for sale within weeks.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic also faces a series of class-action lawsuits on behalf of the victims.
Backroom pork barrel patronage and homo oral sex can get a lot done North of the 49th.
It's amazing to watch eh.
The Krink said
6:47 AM, 08/21/13
Cleanup will cost $200 million. That is a big wad of money.
Add all the lawsuits coming forth and it could be a $billion.
It would take MIR for this to happen and it was. What happened
happened but some others made some mental mistakes
during the same time-frame working on the railroad elsewhere
without this catostrophic result. Just some very bad luck for
one individual/engineer and the wreck results in bankrupting
the railroad. Pretty extreme event. Of course it sends a big
ripple throughout North America as these oil trains are running
everywhere these days and through towns that never had a
oil train pass through before.
Ed Burkhardt, CEO of MMAs parent company, Rail World Inc., is on the board of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, which is MMAs second-largest creditor with a $6 million outstanding loan.
Wheeling and Lake Erie filed a lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor asking Judge Louis Kornreich to become first in line to get back the $6 million loan that Wheeling gave MMA. That action is pending.
Thats not where the potential conflicts end. Larry Parsons, CEO of Wheeling and Lake Erie, is similarly a member of MMAs board of directors.
To Matt Jacobson, former CEO of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad, that raised a red flag.
Ed and Larry have interest in both railroads, said Jacobson, whos also former CEO of Maine & Co. and a former gubernatorial candidate. It seems theres at least the potential for conflict.
Anthony Hatch, a railroad industry analyst based in New York, agreed.
While the arrangement Parsons and Burkhardt have was a bit unusual prior to MMAs bankruptcy, Hatch said it wouldnt have created any ethical conflicts because the two regional railroads dont directly compete. However, thats changed now that the two railroads are involved in MMAs bankruptcy hearing, he said.
I find this to be highly unusual, said Hatch. Though, he added that the question of how to handle the situation is one for a bankruptcy expert, not a railroad industry analyst.
Reached on Friday, Burkhardt denied any conflict of interest exists for himself or Parsons. He said Wheelings board is not involved in the management of the company, and had no part in the decision to file the lawsuit. Burkhardt promised he would recuse himself from any deliberations should Wheelings board address the suit.
They make their own policy decisions, Burkhardt said of Wheelings management team, which answers to the board. This matter has never been looked at by the board, but I would expect them [board members and management] to protect their financial interests in this matter.
Burkhardts only financial benefit from sitting on Wheelings board is a small stipend for each quarterly board meeting he attends, he said. Burkhardt declined to disclose the amount of the stipend, and said he received no other direct financial benefits from his board membership.
Not all observers see a conflict of interest.
To William DeWitt, a former railroad executive and currently associate dean of Maine Maritime Academys Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics, a conflict of interest implies a person personally profits from a situation, usually from unfair means. In this case, DeWitt doesnt see Burkhardt or Parsons profiting from this situation, especially since the bankruptcy case is under a microscope.
It is tremendously legally constrained, DeWitt said. So Im struggling to figure out how a conflict of interest exists at this point in time.
Parsons could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Its pretty irrelevant, Keach said. It doesnt mean anything in this context. Wheeling, like any other secured creditor, is protecting itself [with the lawsuit], and since the accident has been arms length to the company.
In fact, they have been a pain. Its not as if the conflict is doing them any favors, Keach added, calling it an interesting historical fact.
Burkhardt said he has not reviewed the situation with an attorney for any ethical issues, and has no immediate plans to do so. Membership of MMAs board is a moot point, he said, because the trustee is now operating the company, not the board. Nor will the board resume its role with MMA.
I dont see a conflict, Burkhardt said. As a member of the board of the MMA I have no authority whatsoever. The trustee is in charge of MMA. The board has no affect on MMA Railway [at this point].
Burkhardt said he doubted the Wheeling board would address Wheelings lawsuit, which he and Keach described as a legal maneuver typical in these kinds of proceedings.
A lawsuit is not the kind of thing board members normally have an interest in the outcome of, Burkhardt said.
Burkhardt said Parsons and Wheeling and Lake Erie have bent over backwards to assist MMA in whatever it was doing.
Part of the background of his company is him making a $6 million loan, Burkhardt said. Since the bankruptcy occurred he has had no opportunity to help MMA in his capacity on MMAs board.
MMAs future was shattered when an unmanned and runaway train parked on a main line outside Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and slammed into the center of that town on July 6, killing 47 people. The railway filed for bankruptcy protection about a month afterward, laying off more than 70 workers.
Let's see, the fuckers didn't have good enough insurance to pay for any portion of the cleanup and declared bankruptcy.
No, they're back with adequate insurance.....
Canada allows railway behind disaster to operate
Aug 17, 1:45 PM (ET)
OTTAWA (AP) - A Canadian government agency has determined that the U.S. rail company whose runaway train crashed into a small Quebec town, killing 47 people last month, has adequate insurance to keep operating for the next month and a half.
The Canadian Transportation Agency said the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway provided evidence it had adequate third-party liability insurance coverage to operate from Aug. 20 to Oct. 1, 2013. The agency's decision late Friday reversed an Aug. 13 order that would have halted the railroad's operations from early next week.
The agency said the rail company provided new facts and information demonstrating it had adequate third-party liability insurance for the short term. However, agency spokeswoman Jacqueline Bannister said Montreal, Maine & Atlantic must show it has the funds to pay the self-insured portion of its operations, or the regulator will suspend its operations from Aug. 23.
On July 6, an unmanned train, with 72 tankers of crude oil, came loose, derailed and crashed into the center of the town of Lac-Megantic near the Maine border in eastern Quebec. Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings. An estimated 1.48 million gallons (5.6 million liters) of oil were spilled.
The rail company was granted creditor protection on Aug. 8 after the company said it couldn't afford the cleanup and reconstruction costs for the town.
In its bankruptcy filings, the railway's Canadian subsidiary said it only had $25 million in insurance coverage, while estimating the environmental cleanup alone will exceed $200 million. The railway and its Canadian counterpart, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co., also cited debts to more than 200 creditors following the disaster.
A company attorney has said he expects executives to explore putting the rail company up for sale within weeks.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic also faces a series of class-action lawsuits on behalf of the victims.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDl3iUo__dY
Backroom pork barrel patronage and homo oral sex can get a lot done North of the 49th.
It's amazing to watch eh.
Add all the lawsuits coming forth and it could be a $billion.
It would take MIR for this to happen and it was. What happened
happened but some others made some mental mistakes
during the same time-frame working on the railroad elsewhere
without this catostrophic result. Just some very bad luck for
one individual/engineer and the wreck results in bankrupting
the railroad. Pretty extreme event. Of course it sends a big
ripple throughout North America as these oil trains are running
everywhere these days and through towns that never had a
oil train pass through before.
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/10/13/business/ceo-of-rail-world-montreal-maine-and-atlantic-parent-sits-on-board-of-company-suing-railway-in-bankruptcy/
In what some experts say could be a conflict of interest, the CEO of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railways parent company also sits on the board of directors of the railways second-largest creditor, which on Tuesday sued to ensure it is first to be paid from MMAs ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Ed Burkhardt, CEO of MMAs parent company, Rail World Inc., is on the board of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, which is MMAs second-largest creditor with a $6 million outstanding loan.
Wheeling and Lake Erie filed a lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor asking Judge Louis Kornreich to become first in line to get back the $6 million loan that Wheeling gave MMA. That action is pending.
Thats not where the potential conflicts end. Larry Parsons, CEO of Wheeling and Lake Erie, is similarly a member of MMAs board of directors.
To Matt Jacobson, former CEO of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad, that raised a red flag.
Ed and Larry have interest in both railroads, said Jacobson, whos also former CEO of Maine & Co. and a former gubernatorial candidate. It seems theres at least the potential for conflict.
Anthony Hatch, a railroad industry analyst based in New York, agreed.
While the arrangement Parsons and Burkhardt have was a bit unusual prior to MMAs bankruptcy, Hatch said it wouldnt have created any ethical conflicts because the two regional railroads dont directly compete. However, thats changed now that the two railroads are involved in MMAs bankruptcy hearing, he said.
I find this to be highly unusual, said Hatch. Though, he added that the question of how to handle the situation is one for a bankruptcy expert, not a railroad industry analyst.
Reached on Friday, Burkhardt denied any conflict of interest exists for himself or Parsons. He said Wheelings board is not involved in the management of the company, and had no part in the decision to file the lawsuit. Burkhardt promised he would recuse himself from any deliberations should Wheelings board address the suit.
They make their own policy decisions, Burkhardt said of Wheelings management team, which answers to the board. This matter has never been looked at by the board, but I would expect them [board members and management] to protect their financial interests in this matter.
Burkhardts only financial benefit from sitting on Wheelings board is a small stipend for each quarterly board meeting he attends, he said. Burkhardt declined to disclose the amount of the stipend, and said he received no other direct financial benefits from his board membership.
Not all observers see a conflict of interest.
To William DeWitt, a former railroad executive and currently associate dean of Maine Maritime Academys Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics, a conflict of interest implies a person personally profits from a situation, usually from unfair means. In this case, DeWitt doesnt see Burkhardt or Parsons profiting from this situation, especially since the bankruptcy case is under a microscope.
It is tremendously legally constrained, DeWitt said. So Im struggling to figure out how a conflict of interest exists at this point in time.
Parsons could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Robert Keach, the court-appointed trustee representing MMA, said he didnt see any ethical issues with the board memberships.
Its pretty irrelevant, Keach said. It doesnt mean anything in this context. Wheeling, like any other secured creditor, is protecting itself [with the lawsuit], and since the accident has been arms length to the company.
In fact, they have been a pain. Its not as if the conflict is doing them any favors, Keach added, calling it an interesting historical fact.
Burkhardt said he has not reviewed the situation with an attorney for any ethical issues, and has no immediate plans to do so. Membership of MMAs board is a moot point, he said, because the trustee is now operating the company, not the board. Nor will the board resume its role with MMA.
I dont see a conflict, Burkhardt said. As a member of the board of the MMA I have no authority whatsoever. The trustee is in charge of MMA. The board has no affect on MMA Railway [at this point].
Burkhardt said he doubted the Wheeling board would address Wheelings lawsuit, which he and Keach described as a legal maneuver typical in these kinds of proceedings.
A lawsuit is not the kind of thing board members normally have an interest in the outcome of, Burkhardt said.
Burkhardt said Parsons and Wheeling and Lake Erie have bent over backwards to assist MMA in whatever it was doing.
Part of the background of his company is him making a $6 million loan, Burkhardt said. Since the bankruptcy occurred he has had no opportunity to help MMA in his capacity on MMAs board.
MMAs future was shattered when an unmanned and runaway train parked on a main line outside Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and slammed into the center of that town on July 6, killing 47 people. The railway filed for bankruptcy protection about a month afterward, laying off more than 70 workers.
Agencies on both sides of the border are investigating the causes of the disaster. Lawsuits arising from it are expected to take years to play out in Canadian and U.S. courts. A Canadian courtgranted the railway permission to operate until Friday, Oct. 18, and is mulling a request to allow it to continue to Jan. 15, 2014.