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Quebec rail tragedy in legal knots
Gary Park For Petroleum News
As the second anniversary of the Bakken crude train disaster in Quebec approaches there has been a flurry of related activity.
Topping the list, the Canadian government laid charges June 22 against six people involved in the tragedy and Canadian Pacific Railway, which carried the crude from North Dakota on its initial leg to the Irving Oil refinery in New Brunswick, is involved in a legal fight over a C$430 million settlement fund created for victims’ families and creditors.
Amid those events, there is evidence that CP Rail has not yet absorbed the lessons of Lac-Megantic, when 47 residents were killed after the runaway train derailed and ignited, or emergency directives issued by the federal government.
In laying the charges against those involved in Lac-Megantic, Transport Canada said former employees of the bankrupt Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway violated the Railway Safety Act by failing to ensure that brakes were properly set on the unattended crude train that rolled into the Quebec town.
The government said its court actions are a “testament to its efforts to continually improve both environmental security and rail safety.”
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said ongoing investigations could result in further charges.
The six accused, including MM&A Chief Executive Officer Robert Grindrod and train engineer Tom Harding, face two counts each which carry maximum penalties of C$50,000 per individual and six months in jail.
An investigation by Transport Canada found that not enough hand brakes were set on the train when the Harding took a work break.
The explosion of the 72-tanker train released 5.5 million liters of crude and contaminated 500,000 metric tons of soil, while destroying 44 buildings.
Harding and two other MM&A employees were charged last year with 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death.
The C$430 million civil settlement for families is now before the Quebec Superior Court for approval.
CP Rail not contributing CP Rail is the lone party refusing to contribute to the settlement fund, arguing it played no part in the disaster after it handed the crude tankers over to MM&A in Montreal.
So far about 25 companies accused of responsibility in the July 2013 tragedy have contributed towards a C$431.5 million fund that has been unanimously accepted by victims and creditors.
CP Rail attorney Alain Rideau told the court the disaster “did not involve our tracks, did not involve our rail cars, our products or our employees.”
In the aftermath to Lac-Megantic and a series of other crude train fire and explosions, governments and transport regulators in Canada and the United States have implemented tougher regulations for dangerous goods trains, including phasing out older tank cars, new speed limits and completing detailed manifestos of trains carry toxic materials.
CP Rail is facing allegations that it parked a train of 57 loaded rail cars, including flammable oil, on a mountain slope in the Canadian Rockies above the British Columbia town of Revelstoke in February without applying hand brakes.
Investigators accuse the railroad of overruling a conductor and engineer to leave the cars on the tracks without hand brakes.
But, unless Transport Canada lays charges, the allegation will not be tested in court.
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