A Very Ugly American

[cali]

<snip>

“People are lambasting me,” Burkhardt told CBC News. Well, cry us a river. In Lac-Mégantic they are counting their dead. By the time the “Railroader of the Century” and president of Rail World Inc. of Chicago was finally en route to the town on Tuesday, three and a half days after the blast, people were furious with a company that seemed more concerned about its reputation and liability than about the heartbreak its derailed tankers of crude oil had inflicted.

<snip>

Meanwhile in Chicago, Burkhardt’s first instinct seemed to be to bemoan the fact that his Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway had “blown” what had been “a very good safety record.” Unenviable as that may be for MMA, it was incomparably worse for the 15 people killed and the 50 who are missing and feared dead.

Burkhardt was also quick to place blame elsewhere. The cause is not yet known. But he did himself no favour by pointing a finger at local firefighters, even while saying there was evidence that the train had been tampered with. When a locomotive caught fire in nearby Nantes where the train was stopped, firefighters shut down the engine and put out the blaze. Burkhardt said shutting it down meant the train’s braking system gradually lost air pressure “and an hour or so after the locomotive was shut down, the train rolled away” and travelled down the grade to Lac-Mégantic, where it derailed and exploded.

Canadian investigators, however, report that an MMA employee was also on the scene in Nantes. Did that person bear no responsibility for resecuring the train? Did the staffer understand what was required? Beyond that, MMA has yet to elaborate on the charge of tampering.

<snip>

Finally, Burkhardt shrugged off criticism that he remained closeted in his Chicago office, saying his time was better spent dealing with the media and insurers. “I’ll be there in the next couple of days” he told CBC. “I hope that I don’t get shot at,” he told TVA. “I won’t be wearing a bulletproof vest.”

<snip>

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/07/10/shattered_lacmgantic_deserved_better_than_tardy_visit_by_railway_boss_editorial.html

They forgot to add that Ed waited 36 hours before making any comment.

[pinboy3niner]

1. How this creep tried to blame firefighters:

Pressed to elaborate by CTV, Burkhardt wrote Tuesday in an e-mail exchange, "We are now aware the firefighters shut down the locomotive. By the time (Montreal, Maine & Atlantic) people found out, it was too late."

http://us.cnn.com/2013/07/09/world/americas/canada-runaway-train/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

But Burkhardt's statement is contradicted by Nantes Fire Chief Patrick Lambert:

No employees from the train company were at the scene when the fire crew arrived.

“They told me it’s normal during a shift change,” Lambert said, adding that by the time his men were done putting out the fire at 12:13 a.m., two MMA employees had arrived.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Nantes+fire+chief+confirms+late+night+fire+before/8631340/story.html

Burkhardt's a lying slimeball. A very ugly American indeed!

[cali]

3. and a cowardly slimeball too

he can't even fake some concern and contrition and his company has a sucky safety record.

[Cleita]

2. K&R

[Brickbat]

4. He is shockingly clueless. No spokesman, no lawyer talking for him, speculating straight out of his

ass. He is way out of his league.

[cali]

5. excellent post. someone should have been handling this guy from the beginning

but heartbreaking as his actions are for the people of Lac Megantic, I'm glad he's showing what he is.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

6. Poor guy

I hope he 'gets his life back' like Tony Hayward.