Quebec prosecutors file charges against three MMA employees for Lac-Megantic derailment

The Quebec provincial prosecutor’s office has filed 47 counts of criminal negligence against three employees of the now defunct Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Ltd. (MMA) in conjunction with the fatal derailment that occurred July 6, 2013, in Lac-Megantic, according to an Associated Press article.

Charges were issued against Thomas Harding, the locomotive engineer; Jean Demaitre, the manager of train operations; and Richard Labrie, the rail traffic controller. MMA also is implicated in the charges, which represent one count for each person killed in the crude-train accident, the article states. Criminal negligence that causes death can result in a jail sentence of up to life imprisonment in Canada.

Prosecutors decided to file the charges after an analysis of evidence gathered at the scene, the article states. MMA had blamed Harding for failing to set enough brakes on the train, allowing it to begin rolling toward the town.

The charges were filed a few days prior to the closing of the $15.85 million sale of MMA to a Fortress Investment Group subsidiary, which is expected to occur tomorrow. Most of the sale proceeds will be used to repay creditors, but eventually there will be a settlement fund to compensate victims and repay cleanup costs, the article states. Fortress plans to change the railroad’s name to the Central Maine and Quebec Railway.