Lac-Megantic: Cleanup costs skyrocketing, railway says it can’t pay
Posted Jul 31, 2013 06:19:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway says it can’t pay the cleanup costs for the July 6th fatal derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.
The railway’s chairman says the company is now depending on its insurers to start cutting cheques.
And Ed Burkhardt has raised doubts publicly on whether the company will even survive.
The mayor of Lac-Megantic says her municipality has already sent lawyer’s letters to M-M-and-A saying the railway it must shell out for mop-up costs.
Those costs have nearly doubled in just a few days — from about four-million dollars to almost eight-million.
The municipality wants an immediate response after the railway missed a deadline last week to respond to the first legal letter.
The railway has already been laying off workers as the legal threats and financial demands pile up.
An estimated 47 people died when the train operated by MM&A slammed into Lac-Megantic
