Privatization's the Name of the Game for Accident-Prone Train Company Behind Lac-Mégantic Oil Disaster
As the head of the company behind the runaway oil train that derailed and caused a fireball explosion in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec faced furious residents on Wednesday, he continued to defend the shoddy safety record of his company hell-bent on privatization.
Edward Burkhardt, chairman of Maine, Montreal and Atlantic Railways (MM&A) and President and CEO of Rail World, Inc., its parent company, headed to the tragedy-stricken town where he hoped he was "not going to get shot," though he faced heckling by residents and dodged a handful of reporters.
One resident, Richard Lefebvre, carried a sign with a simple message likely felt throughout the town: “No more killer train.”
Burkhardt has been deflecting blame for the disaster, denying he had first blamed local firefighters and later saying it was the fault of an employee for not setting the brakes.
Burkhardt didn't mention MM&A's safety track record.
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