Big Dig death suit settles for $500M
BOSTON (AP) - January 23, 2008 Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consortium that oversaw design
and construction of the nation's costliest public works project,
has agreed to pay $407 million, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said
in announcing the deal involving the nation's costliest and most
complex highway project. Several smaller companies will pay about
$51 million collectively.
"The citizens of Massachusetts entrusted Bechtel/Parsons
Brinckerhoff to act as their eyes and ears on the Central Artery
Project," Sullivan said. "They grossly failed to meet their
obligations and responsibilities to the citizens of Massachusetts
and the United States."
Under the settlement, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff will not face
criminal charges in the deadly Interstate 90 tunnel ceiling
collapse in July 2006. Milena Del Valle, 39, of Boston, was crushed
by 26 tons of concrete as she and her husband drove to Logan
International Airport.
The deal also does not bar the consortium from receiving future
government contracts. Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff was paid more
than $2 billion to manage the project.
State officials will be able to seek additional damages from
Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff only if there is a catastrophic event
- defined as causing more than $50 million in damages. Its
liability will be capped at $100 million, and an arbitrator would
decide whether the consortium was to blame.
The settlement does not have a direct effect on a separate
lawsuit filed by Del Valle's family.
"We believe that today's global agreement is the best possible
resolution. I do not say perfect, but the best possible resolution
at this time," Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
Powers Fasteners Inc., the only company that has been criminally
charged in the tunnel collapse, also is the only one out of 15
companies that has settled with the Del Valle family. Powers, which
provided the epoxy blamed for the collapse, has agreed to pay the
family $6 million.
The Brewster, N.Y.-based company, which has been charged with
involuntary manslaughter, has denied responsibility for the
collapse.
Max Stern, the company's lawyer in the criminal case, criticized
the decision by prosecutors to allow Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff,
a multibillion-dollar consortium, to avoid criminal charges while
pursuing charges against Powers, a smaller, family-owned business.
"Obviously, this is out of Powers' price range," Stern said of
the $407 million settlement.
"The sheer size of this settlement underlines what we think is
the undeniable fact that Bechtel bears the real responsibility for
this accident. After all, Bechtel was responsible for the design,
it was responsible for the construction and it was responsible for
the inspection of the tunnel, and yet, it escapes all criminal
charges."
If convicted, Powers faces a fine of $1,000, the maximum penalty
for a company charged with manslaughter in Massachusetts. No
individuals were indicted, but prosecutors did not rule out future
indictments against individuals.
Del Valle's death sparked a flurry of finger-pointing and
investigations.
The National Transportation Safety Board found that the wrong
type of epoxy was used to hold up concrete ceiling panels that
collapsed and fell on Del Valle's car. The NTSB concluded the
collapse could have been avoided if designers and construction
crews had considered that the epoxy holding support anchors for the
panels could slowly pull away over time.
Dec. 31 marked the end of the joint venture that teamed
Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff with the Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority to bury the old elevated Central Artery that ran through
the heart of Boston with a series of tunnels, ramps and bridges.
The $14.79 billion Big Dig, which had an initial price tag of
$2.6 billion, has been plagued by problems and cost overruns
throughout the two decades it took to design and build.