What's New
Audit: Pike should Dig deeper
to recover $$
Boston Herald
By Casey Ross - July 31, 2007
The state's Big Dig overseers have left taxpayers holding a $30 million bill to fix leaks in the problem-plagued tunnel network, despite widespread evidence of shoddy workmanship by contractors, a new report shows.
"Not only have taxpayers paid for shoddy work, they are now paying for the repairs," state Auditor Joseph DeNucci said yesterday. "It's absolutely ridiculous that we're letting (contractors) get away with this."
DeNucci's audit found that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has continued to lag in its effort to recover money for botched work on the $14.8 billion project. Despite spending nearly $30 million to fix leaks, the Turnpike has not aggressively pursued recovering that money through the attorney general's office, the audit stated.
Meanwhile, costs related to the ceiling collapse that killed motorist Milena Del Valle have ballooned to $87 million, up from an estimated $54 million just months ago. DeNucci said it remains unclear how much of that money will be recovered by the state.
A Turnpike Authority spokesman noted that DeNucci's report, while at times highly critical, also acknowledges increased coordination between the Turnpike and Attorney General Martha Coakley.
"The Turnpike Authority continues to hold contractors responsible for their obligations, including the proper sealing of leaks in the Big Dig tunnels," spokesman John Lamontagne said. "The Turnpike agrees that cost recovery is a critically important priority."
But DeNucci's report also slams the Turnpike for forgoing recovery of taxpayer money spent on police details, engineering reviews and other costs associated with the leaks.
The audit states that Turnpike officials were not even able to estimate how much taxpayer money has been spent to cover those costs.
"They haven't given us any information on this," DeNucci said. "They're apparently not interested in recovering that money, and that's very wrong."
The Turnpike is still battling to close some 800 leaks in the Interstate 93 tunnel, down from about 3,000 a couple years ago.
Coakley said yesterday she remains in close contact with Turnpike officials and has been exploring a "global settlement" to resolve claims of poor work.
"We have been in close contact with the Turnpike on leaks and other issues," Coakley said. "I don't think this will fall off the radar in terms of our efforts to recover these amounts."
Coakley is expected to announce soon whether she will file criminal charges against Big Dig firms involved in the ceiling collapse.
Officials have said Coakley is trying to convince the Big Dig's private manager, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, to pay as much as $1 billion to avoid criminal charges.