XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: mtl.general   
   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   And, unless the monies go toward personal injuries suffered from the explosion   
   and fire, the monies that go towards lost business or interruption of   
   livelihoods, will be TAXABLE.   
      
   Do you suppose Harper & Co would ever consider waiving Revenue Canada taxes to   
   the people of Lac-Mégantic?  I'm guessing they're including them in their next   
   'balanced budget'.   
   ____________________________________________________________   
      
   The Canadian Press  - Posted: Jan 09, 2015   
      
   Lac-Mégantic rail disaster: $200M settlement reached   
   Compensation package must still be approved by courts on both sides of the   
   border   
      
      
   Victims of the 2013 rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Que., have reached a major   
   financial settlement with the railway that was at the heart of the deadly   
   tragedy.   
      
   A U.S. lawyer who worked on the wrongful-death lawsuits said Friday that $200   
   million will be distributed in settlement funds to families of those who died   
   as well as other parties involved in the legal battle.   
      
   Peter Flowers told The Canadian Press he expects the money to start flowing   
   this summer, although the compensation package must still be approved by courts   
   on both sides of the border.   
      
   The settlement involves the Montreal Maine and Atlantic Canada Co., its   
   insurance carrier, rail-car manufacturers and some oil producers.   
      
   "This fund applies essentially to everyone who's been affected as a result of   
   the disaster," Flowers said in an interview from Chicago.   
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   "It applies to the wrongful-death victims, it applies to the government's   
   lawsuit against these companies.  It applies to the class-action lawsuit filed   
   in Canada against these   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   companies.   
      
   "All three of those main classes are being covered by this."   
      
   Flowers, a wrongful-death lawyer with the Meyers & Flowers law firm, said   
   Illinois litigation regulations played a "dramatic role" in increasing the   
   funds to be distributed.   
      
      
   Total compensation expected to climb   
      
   He said the amount will go even higher because three other companies — World   
   Fuel Services, Canadian Pacific Railway and Irving Oil — have yet to   
   contribute.   
      
   "We will turn over every stone on earth before we give up on them and intend on   
   pursuing them in Illinois and any other state to ensure they're brought to   
   justice and held responsible for this disaster."   
      
   The derailment in the town of 6,000 on July 6, 2013, set off several massive   
   blasts, wiped out part of the downtown core and killed 47 people.   
      
     The family of one man killed in the crash was the first to file a lawsuit in   
   a U.S. court against rail and petroleum firms connected to the oil-filled   
   tankers that slammed into the town.   
      
   It was initiated by the family of Jean-Guy Veilleux, who died in the   
   runaway-train disaster, in the weeks following the derailment.   
      
   Plaintiff Annick Roy was seeking damages from 10 defendants, including the   
   now-defunct Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, its major stockholder Rail   
   World Inc., top rail executive Edward Burkhardt and several American petroleum   
   companies.   
      
   The suit alleged the railway and petroleum companies named had a duty to   
   operate their businesses in a "safe manner and to take reasonable measures to   
   avoid exposing the public to the dangers associated with the transport of crude   
   oil to refineries."   
      
   Roy also alleged in the suit the defendants were negligent for transporting   
   crude oil in the flawed DOT-111 tanker cars, which have been known to rupture   
   during derailments.   The document highlights how there has been a considerable   
   increase in oil-by-rail transport in recent years.   
      
   Flaws in the DOT-111 tanker have been noted as far back as a 1991 safety study.   
      
   Other defendants named in the lawsuit include firms in the U.S. petroleum   
   industry: World Fuel Services Corp., Western Petroleum Company, Petroleum   
   Transport Solutions, Dakota Plains Transloading, Dakota Petroleum Transport   
   Solutions, Dakota Plains Marketing and DPSTS.   
      
   Burkhardt, who was president of Illinois-based Rail World and chairman of MMA   
   at the time of the tragedy, was the only individual listed in the suit.   
      
   When contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday, Burkhardt said in an email,   
   "I'm afraid I cannot comment at this time."   
      
      
   ==================================================================   
     It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the   
   environment   
      
                                ~  Ansel Adams   
   ==================================================================   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)