Railway says it can't pay for cleanup

by The Canadian Press - Castanet Jul 31, 2013 / 5:59 amA railway involved in Quebec's fatal derailment doesn't have the cash to pay for the torrent of post-disaster expenses headed its way. The chairman of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway says the company is now depending on its insurers to start cutting cheques and he has raised doubts publicly on whether the company will even survive. In the end, says one expert in civil responsibility, taxpayers could be stuck with a bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Quebec law professor Daniel Gardner says he highly doubts MMA has enough coverage to absorb the massive, combined financial liabilities of damages like environmental cleanup, emergency-crew salaries and lawsuits. In fact, he believes the Lac-Megantic derailment could have more financial consequences than any other land disaster in North American history. "The whole cost of this will be far closer to $1 billion than to $500 million," said the Universite Laval academic, adding he would be surprised if the railway had a total of $500 million in coverage. "What will probably happen? ...The company will go bankrupt, insurance coverage won't be enough." Gardner expects governments will wind up covering the difference.