The scenario described below is completely fictitious.

You are a senior engineer of a medium sized manufacturing company in a Northern Ontario town. Your company is the major employer of the town and the surrounding communities. On March 20th at 9:22 a.m. a freight train carrying equipment and supplies to your company derailed in a rural community near to the town in which your manufacturing company is situated. The train is owned and operated by a railroad based in the U.S. This derailment resulted in a toxic spill from three of the tanker carriages of the train which contaminated the area. A fourth tanker wagon carrying fuel exploded and caught fire and the fire spread quickly to the surrounding tinder-dry forest. The toxic spill resulted in the deaths of 3 local residents and therefore all the residents within a 2 km radius of the derailment site had to be evacuated. Also, the fire spread rapidly, completely destroying 8 homes. A further 30 homes, a school and the local pub are still in danger of the fire which continues to burn out of control.

Question:

It is now 3:00 p.m. on the 20th and your CEO is scheduled at 4:00 p.m. to make an announcement to the TV News crews from the CBC, CTV and Global Networks for the 6:00 p.m. news broadcast. He has asked you to draft the statement on the event and send it to him in an email.

Write a statement of not more than 250 words which he will deliver to the News reporters detailing the incident and the actions your company is currently taking to remedy the situation and address the concerns of the local population. You have been advised by your company lawyer not to admit liability or to say anything that might be understood to imply that you company was negligent in the incident.