Edward Burckhardt Biography, the Lac-Mégantic killer
Known for Founder of Wisconsin Central Ltd. and Rail World
Salary unknown, more than a few millions per year
Our cousins Mario and Denis Mercier were fire fighters, Thanks
Edward A. Burckhardt
Edward Burckhardt is a railroad executive, the founder and current chairman of Rail World Inc.
Career
After gaining a B.S. with honors in Industrial Administration from Yale University and studying Rail Transportation at Yale's graduate school, Burckhardt initially worked for the Wabash Railroad. He was then an executive with Chicago and North Western Transportation, first Vice President of Marketing and then Vice President of Operations.
Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation
Following passage of the Staggers Rail Act, on April 3, 1987, So Line Railroad announced the sale of its Lake States Transportation Division to private investors led by Burckhardt and Thomas F. Power Jr., former chief financial officer at the Milwaukee Road, creating the new Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation. The first WC train ran from Stevens Point to North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on October 11, 1987. Burckhardt served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company for 12 years, during which WCTC also:
Bought Algoma Central Railway
Founded English Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd, that bought five railway operations from the British Railway Board, handling 93% of rail freight in the United Kingdom
Founded the Australian Transport Network, which purchased Tasrail and the Emu Bay Railway
Named Railroader of the Year in 1999 by industry trade journal Railway Age magazine
There was a "fiery 1996 train wreck in Weyauwega" prominent amongst safety problems that emerged during Burckhardt’s tenure. By 1997 the WC stock price had peaked and began to decline. At the same time, the foreign holdings of WCLX suffered poor returns from 1997–1999.
Management issues at WC became apparent as Burckhardt favored investment for the long term whereas Power favored cutting expenses; this reportedly led to frequent clashes between the two executives and culminated in a July 7, 1999, special meeting of the WCLX board of directors in which Burckhardt was asked to resign.
After a failed proxy battle, in 2001 WCTC and the former Illinois Central Railroad were purchased by Canadian National Railway, and merged into their United States holdings. The overseas railroad holdings were put up for sale, and have slowly been sold off.
Honorary Consul
In 1997, Edward Burckhardt, while still serving as the CEO and President of Wisconsin Central Transportation Company, was appointed by the New Zealand government as its honorary consul to Chicago. Previously, he had led the privatization of New Zealand Rail during the 1990s and also served as chairman of Tranz Rail Holdings for six years, between September 1993 and August 1999.
Rail World
In July 1999 Rail World was incorporated by Burckhardt, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer. As part of Rail World operations:
Bought the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway with a 75% share ownership.
Led the Estonian Railways privatization in 2001, and served as Chairman until the company was repurchased by the Estonian government in 2007
Founded Rail Polska, which has an unrestricted operator license on the Polish rail network.
Lac-Mégantic derailment
Our cousins Denis and Mario Mercier were fire fighter at that fire in Lac-Mégantic. Thanks to both of them for their work and to be so braved.
All our families are very proud of you, the Laprise, Mercier, Trépanier and much more of our related families. They also received from Pauline Marois, the Prime minister of Québec medals for their courage and work.
After the derailment at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada of a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train on July 6, 2013, which left 47 people dead or missing, Burckhardt visited Lac-Mégantic on July 10, 2013, and was heckled by residents. After the accident the railway's safety record was called into question.
Over the previous decade the firm recorded a higher accident rate than the rest of the US rail fleet, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. In the previous year the railroad had 36.1 accidents per million miles travelled, in comparison to a national average of 14.6 accidents.
The Toronto Star also noted that "when Burckhardt took over [Rail World Inc.] in 2003, he cut employee wages by 40 per cent" and "locomotive crews were cut in half, replacing two workers with one."
Following the disaster Burckhardt initially blamed the Nantes, Quebec fire brigade for shutting down the unattended locomotive to extinguish an engine fire, and then announced the railway had suspended Tom Harding, the engineer of the runaway train, for improperly setting the handbrakes on the rail cars.
On August 6, 2013, Burckhardt stated that MMA has no further plans to carry oil by rail. The next day, MM&A filed for bankruptcy protection under US Chapter 11 and Canada's Companies Creditors Arrangement Act.
US Court agreements
Victims of the 2013 rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec have reached a major financial settlement with the railway involved.
A U.S. lawyer who worked on the wrongful-death lawsuits says $200 million dollars 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.
"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 excepte to climb
Parties involved in the proposed $200 million settlement fund for victims asked a Canadian judge Friday to give them until September to pin down the details.
The court filing in Sherbrooke, Que., described for the first time how money from the settlement fund could be distributed to victims' families. A similar filing of a draft settlement plan will be made later in a companion case in U.S. courts.
"This is the first step in implementing the settlement fund," said Robert Keach, court-appointed trustee in the defunct railroad's bankruptcy case in Maine.
Keach said he's received commitments of about $200 million but hopes it will grow to $500 million. Several of the largest corporations with potential legal liability have not yet agreed to participate, he said.
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," Flowers said.
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 Burckhardt 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.
Burckhardt, 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, Burckhardt said in an email, "I'm afraid I cannot comment at this time."
Montreal
MONTREAL — A lawyer involved in proceedings related to the Lac-Mégantic train tragedy says relatives of victims could receive their share of a $77-million settlement as early as August.
U.S. attorney Robert Keach said today U.S. and Canadian courts still need to approve the plan to disperse roughly $300 million to claimants after the disaster in 2013 that killed 47 people.
Keach said if there are no court delays, the families of the 47 victims as well as the relatives of a firefighter who committed suicide after the disaster will begin to receive cheques by August or early September.
The $300 million was cobbled together from nearly two dozen companies, including oil-exploration firms, tank car owners, Irving Oil and Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway.
Victims
More than $77 million of that sum is earmarked for families of victims, while the rest will go to municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as other claimants.
Canadian Pacific Railway and World Fuel Services Corp., two major defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit, are not part of the settlement and lawyers for the victims are continuing their fight to receive payments from them.
As of April 18, 2015, no money was given to any one in Lac-Mégantic. I do believe that no money will go to the residents and the lawyers have the money and Edward Burckhardt must be happy in the sand beaches in Bahamas.
Mr. Burckhardt Island in Paradise
No comments:
Post a Comment