UPDATE 1-Lac Megantic victims' fund to begin payments without CP Rail

(Adds comment from Canadian Pacific; changes lead)
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 involved in the payments 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.
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 Montreal, Maine and Atlantic bankruptcy case. CP 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 said it is not responsible for the
disaster.
"It was not our train, not our track, not our locomotive and
not our crew," said CP spokesman Marty Cej in an email. "We will
continue to defend ourselves against any litigation."
The Quebec government lawsuit alleges CP, which hauled the
cars from North Dakota to Montreal, was negligent when it handed
over the tank cars to the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway,
Canadian media reported when the lawsuit was filed in November.
($1 = 1.3920 Canadian dollars)