What's New
Big Dig Clash Cost $8.3m, Audit Says
Boston Globe
By, Noah Biermand, Globe Staff, June 11, 2008
A
dispute between the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts
Port Authority over cracks and leaks in Big Dig construction has cost
taxpayers $8.3 million, the state auditor reported yesterday.
The
Turnpike Authority and Massport have been arguing for years over the
quality of a 3/4-mile section of the Ted Williams Tunnel and a nearby
elevated ramp leading to Logan International Airport. Massport, which runs
the airport, is supposed to take control of the property but has refused
to pay the Turnpike for it, contending that the work was not up to
standards.
The
state treasurer wound up making Massport's payments to the Turnpike
Authority, a process that cost taxpayers an extra $8.3 million in
borrowing costs, Auditor Joe DeNucci said.
"I
don't blame the Port Authority for not wanting to accept damaged
goods," DeNucci said. "If the roadways were built correctly,
this wouldn't be a problem. It wouldn't have been a problem at all."
DeNucci
called the latest findings typical of the Big Dig, the subject of 22
audits by his office.
"We
were disclosing problems with the roads leading out of the Ted Williams
tunnels way back, and here we are a decade later and it's the same old
story," he said.
Pike
officials argue that the value of unfinished work is much lower than the
amount that Massport has withheld and that it has been unfairly
blamed for the credit problems that forced Massport to borrow money
through the state.
The
Legislature required Massport to pay $365 million to help cover the cost
of the Big Dig roads and ramps that serve the airport. Massport paid off
the first $160 million on time.
The
state Treasury became involved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when
Massport could not get a loan without the Commonwealth's backing. The
state then became responsible for Massport's Big Dig debt and made
payments to the Turnpike Authority, relying on Massport to repay the
money. But beginning in 2002, Massport delayed and withheld payments to
the state, because of a dispute about how much work was left to be
completed.
As
delays continued, state Treasurer Timothy Cahill became increasingly
frustrated.
"Due
to a disagreement between Massport and the Central Artery Project over a
punch list, Massport still has not reimbursed the Commonwealth, which
remains out $50 million," Cahill wrote in an Aug. 7, 2006, letter to
Governor Mitt Romney. Once DeNucci's audit began in 2007, Massport made
two large payments totaling $36.6 million, leaving the final $12.4 million
unpaid out of the original debt.
In
a statement, Mac Daniel, Turnpike Authority spokesman, said the agency
disagreed with the premise of the audit because the authority was not
responsible for Massport's inability to borrow money after 9/11, nor the
state's decision to back the loan.