LAC-MÉGANTIC, QUE—The American rail company behind the deadly explosion that destroyed a swath of this picturesque Quebec town has ignited a fury by failing to pay more than $4-million in cleanup bills and forcing Lac-Mégantic and the provincial government to pick up the tab.

“This situation is highly deplorable on the part of MM&A and completely unacceptable,” said Lac-Mégantic Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche. “The town of Lac-Mégantic can no longer tolerate this situation at a time when efforts are multiplying to deal with this tragedy.”

There was no clarification Tuesday from the office of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic’s president and chief executive Robert Grindrod other than a “no comment” from his secretary.

The mayor’s comments came within hours of the federal government on Tuesday imposing a series of nation-wide safety directives that set more rigorous standards for brake application and procedures for leaving trains unattended. The regulations also outlaw one-person crews, the likes of which were standard with Montreal, Maine & Atlantic at the time of the accident.

“The disaster brought to light several industry practices which have caused some concern,” said Gerard McDonald, assistant deputy minister of safety and security at Transport Canada. “Given that, and with an abundance of precaution, we thought it would be prudent to implement these measures now.”

Among Transport Canada’s other recommendations, rail companies must:

Ensure that all unattended locomotives on a main track and sidings are protected from unauthorized entry into the cab.

Ensure the directional controls, commonly known as reversers, are removed from any unattended locomotives to prevent them from moving forward or backward.

Ensure that hand brakes and automatic brakes are properly applied to trains left unattended.

Changes to rail-safety practices are the likely legacy of the deadliest train disaster in Quebec’s modern history. But the dispute over who will pay MM&A’s bills is the most immediate concern for the 6,000 residents of this town and the Quebec government, whose lawyers are trying to determine the most effective methods, other than a possibly protracted legal battle, to recoup the funds.

The money — $4,149,187.48 — was paid out to three companies under contract to MM&A to deal with the effects of the 5.7-million litres of crude oil that was spilled into the soil, lake, river and spewed into the air. At one point last week, the companies threatened to quit their work and take their vital equipment with them because they had not been paid 18 days after the July 6 train derailment and explosion.

Ed Burkhardt, the chairman of MM&A’s parent company, Railworld, had vowed in the days after the accident that the company would do right by the town and victims of accident. That included paying compensation, helping in the cleanup and rebuilding the tracks.

But there was only silence on Tuesday in response to Roy-Laroche’s revelation. No response from Burkhardt’s Chicago offices, nor from the company’s lawyer in Montreal.

Jim Carson, president of the Ottawa-based Eastern Canada Response Corporation, which goes by the French acronym SIMEC, said the rail company signed a contract for services in the event of an oil spill the morning of the July 6 derailment. There was never any attempt or explanation for its failure to pay its $1,399,187.48 bill.

Another company, MD-UN, which is based in the Richelieu valley, south of Montreal, would have been out $2 million had the Quebec government not stepped in to pay the bill. The third firm, Arkansas-based Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), approached city officials when its $750,000 bill went unpaid, according to a lawyer’s letter sent to MM&A demanding that the city be reimbursed for the costs.

An official with CTEH, which works in the area of environmental monitoring, confirmed that the city stepped in to pay the bill, but could offer no reasons why the rail company could not, or would not, pay its bill.

Radio-Canada reported earlier this week that MM&A had reported to Canadian authorities a primary insurance plan that would cover the rail company for up to $25 million in damages. The expectation is that the final bill for the Lac-Mégantic clean up and recovery will work out to many multiples of that amount.

“I hope that MM&A will respect its responsibilities and act like a good corporate citizen,” Roy-Laroche said.

Town lawyers are now demanding that, within the next 48 hours, the rail company provide it with a list of officials it has tasked with overseeing the cleanup effort; a daily update on how that work is proceeding; a complete list of the contractors it has hired; and a comprehensive plan to ensure better coordination.

Correction - July 24, 2013: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said MMA signed a contract with SIMEC before the July 6 accident.

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