MÉGANTIC CASE ENDS WITH $1M FINE
Six plead guilty to violation of railway safety act
MONTREAL• The bankrupt railway company at the centre of the Lac-Mégantic disaster that killed 47 people was fined $1 million for endangering fish.
Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway, the company that owned the runaway train that derailed while hauling crude in the small Quebec town, was found guilty of violating the Fisheries Act and was ordered to pay the maximum penalty.
The former train engineer Thomas Harding, who improperly parked the train on July 5, 2013, before leaving for the night, was given a conditional sentence of six months in prison, which will be served in the community.
Harding and five former MMA employees pleaded guilty to violating the Railway Safety Act, namely for failing to ensure the train was properly secured the night before it rolled down a hill and exploded in LacMégantic.
CEO and president Robert Grindrod, assistant director of operations Michael Horan, operations manager Jean Demaitre, director of operating practices Kenneth Strout and general manager of transportation Lynne Labonte were ordered to pay $50,000 each. The money will go into a fund to rebuild the town.
All six people were all acquitted of a second charge, of not applying a sufficient number of handbrakes because the Crown lacked evidence.
Railway controller Richard Labrie was acquitted of all charges.
“Finally after 4½ years, I can go back to my routine incognito,” he told CBC after the sentencing.
Labrie, Harding and Demaitre were criminally charged in Quebec Superior Court with one count each of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people but were acquitted in January.
Labrie told CBC his legal bill is “an astronomical sum.”
“I’m still smiling because I don’t know the exact amount, but I could buy a house with what I owe.”
Harding’s lawyer, Charles Shearson, told CBC that his client accepts his sentence of house arrest.
“Mr. Harding recognizes it is a fitting sentence and accepts it fully, and given it was a process of negotiation, he has had time to prepare himself for those circumstances.”
From the $1-million fine levelled against MMA, $400,000 is payable immediately and will be put into a fund used to decontaminate the Mégantic Lake and Chaudiere River. Crude oil leaked into both bodies of water after the derailment.
Noting that the company is in bankruptcy protection, Crown prosecutor Josée Pratte asked the judge what will happen if it is not paid.
Quebec court Judge Conrad Chapdelaine replied that he would start by imposing the fine, the CBC reported.
While the fines will go to the federal government, Transport Canada has agreed to hand over $250,000 to Avenir Lac-Mégantic Fund, which was set up by the town to help with the economic recovery and reconstruction of the downtown area.
Jean Clusiault, whose daughter Kathy died in the explosion, told CBC that giving the money to the town is the right thing to do. “It’s another chapter finished,” he said, “but I don’t think we’ll ever seen any money from MMA.”
Lac-Mégantic Mayor Julie Morin told the broadcaster that the money will help rebuild the historical downtown.
“We will be able to manage it in the way we need it, and will invest it quickly,” she said.
“We’re happy, but we know the damage is greater than ($250,000).”
Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the redirection of the funds to the community-based, locally run organization is being done on an exceptional basis.
“After my numerous meetings with residents of LacMégantic, I am aware of the extent to which they have been marked by this tragedy and my thoughts remain with them,” Garneau said in a statement Monday.
The Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the crash, found that MMA had a “weak safety culture” and it criticized Transport Canada for failing to keep a regulatory watch on the company. However, it concluded that “no one individual, a single action or a single factor” caused the derailment.
A class-action lawsuit, launched on behalf of 5,000 people and companies affected by the disaster, is still wending its way through the court.
It names Canadian Pacific Railway, MMA and its engineer, Harding.
WE’RE HAPPY, BUT WE KNOW THE DAMAGE IS GREATER THAN ($250,000).