By Allison Lampert
MONTREAL, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A C$460 million ($330.46
million)settlement fund for victims of the 2013 Lac-Megantic
crude-by-rail disaster will begin disbursements this week
without the participation of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd
CP.TO , the monitor for the bankrupt railroad blamed for the
tragedy said on Tuesday.
Forty-seven people were killed and the downtown core of the
town was destroyed following the derailment of a Montreal Maine
& Atlantic Railway, Ltd train carrying Bakken crude oil in July
2013.
Parties previously named in a class action lawsuit launched
after the disaster, including closely-held Irving Oil, General
Electric GE.N , Shell Oil Company RDSa.L , ConocoPhillips (N:COP)
COP.N , Marathon Oil (N:MRO) MRO.N , have agreed to contribute to the
settlement fund. (nL2N0ZT1CI)
Calgary-based CP, which is being sued by the Quebec
government for C$409 million in Quebec Superior Court in a case
related to the disaster, is not part of the fund, said a
spokesman for Richter Advisory Group Inc, the Canadian monitor
for the MM&A bankruptcy case. CP, which has said it is not
responsible for the disaster, is now the only company being
threatened by a separate class action.
"It is the only company targeted by lawsuits that decided
not to be part of the settlement fund," said Frederic Brosseau,
a spokesman for Richter.
The first amount of C$114 million will be transferred this
week to the holders of wrongful death claims.
Canadian Pacific officials were not immediately available
for comment.
($1 = 1.3920 Canadian dollars)