Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

The Big Big Dig List

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OK, so here’s a list of people I want to see giving testimony at a long table that comes up to their necks, with nothing but a glass of lukewarm, sediment-laden tap water to comfort them:

The obvious and unanswerable question is: Who would be asking the questions?

Who am I missing? Put someone in the hot seat in the comments.

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  2. I think the Legislature (or at least the chairmen and chairwomen of any of the committees that had oversight ability as well as the leadership over the last 10 years or so).

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    Certainly let’s go after the contractors for every penny we can.  They have royally screwed this up and have done major damage in this state in terms of public confidence which is something money cannot get back.  However, the legislature cannot get a pass on this issue.

    • Some people were supposed to be doing the job.  That’s who Charley is talking about.  Those are the people who made operational decisions, and who are potentially liable.

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      That’s completely different from people who were supposed to be “overseeing” what was going on.  As I’ve said before, legislators don’t make appointments, and they don’t make operational decisions.  No one goes to the chair of the legislature’s Transportation Committee and asks whether the bolt/epoxy design is going to work.  Nor do they ask the Attorney General, which is why it’s also appropriate to leave Tom Reilly off that list.  Let’s not muddy the waters.

      • They must be written somewhere I didn’t see. đŸ˜‰  I won’t hijack the thread, I promise, I just really did think Charley was asking generally not with the specifics you mentioned.  However, I do think the Legislature should be “doing the job” as you say.  Their job was called oversight which in turn would effect operational decisions.  If we would have said in 1998, because of an effective legislative investigation, that the bolt system could not be used then we wouldn’t have a lost life.

      • The legislative leaders are the Big Boss in this state, because they can override the Governor. Hauling only the simpering Republicans to the gibbet will leave the Dark Lords laughing all the way to the bank, ring still firmly on finger (Where is gollum when one needs him: we’re going to have to bite that damn ring off I am afraid). Oops, sorry, I forgot, this is just a hearing, not an execution. Maybe we should send the folks on our testimony list to Guantanamo Bay first for a few months to soften them up and get them in the mood to be forthcoming.

        • Only with respect to legislation.  They have no say in appointments.  No authority, no confirmation, nothing.

          • The legislature doesn’t have authority over appointments, correct.  But they do have investigatory authority.  That is a huge sword to wield should the leg have decided to do so, which it didn’t, which lead to shoddy work, which lead to a death.  See how the legislature is to blame?  I could actually make a good bouncy ball song out of it, that’s how simple it is to trace this back to them.  Plus, if I am not mistaken, this is a PUBLIC WORKS project.  Key word: public.  Who represents the public?  The legislature.  Who didn’t do good by the public?  The legislature.  Who deserves to pay through the nose?  Every single contractor involved in this project.

    • Tom Reilly should also be sitting at the table being asked what did you know about potential problems that could result in deadly consequences, when did you know it and why did you not pursue it?  I’m not presuming he knew stuff, I just want him to be questioned in depth.  As someone in another thread commented, he’s great at reactions.  I want to know if he could have been proactive in preventing this CA/Tastrophe.  I could be wrong, but aren’t AG’s responsible for looking out for the welfare of citizens against wrongdoing?

  3. Is an honorary lifetime member of the American Society of Safety Engineers. No doubt he’ll have many interesting observations about the incompetence of whomever supervised the construction of this project. Oh, wait, oops, that’s him. Well, I am sure he will rise above the potential conflict of interest and provide frank and illuminating testimony, drawing on his extensive safety engineering experience. Here is his record of campaign contributions: 30-1 Republican — CA/Tastrophe, from the same Party that brought us Mess ‘o Potamia.

  5. Wasn’t there a unique design/build contract underlying the whole project?  Who allowed this exception to the state procurement act?  (I suspect the answer is: the legislature and the Governor.)  Who was supposed to monitor this one-of-a-kind situation to make sure we were getting quality construction, cost control and minimal conflict of interest? 

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    This combined design/build contract (sort of like the no-bid contracts for Halliburton, isn’t it?) is at the root of a lot of problems with this project, IMHO.

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    How much of the cost increase was due to changes in the design after the public input process?  How much due to on-site conditions (muckier soil than expected, etc.)?  Other factors?

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    I heard a MassHighway official explain once that the state wanted deeper tunnels than the federal standards required, because we wanted to accommodate bigger, clearer directional signage along the route.  Ultra-legible signage makes sense when you’re speeding along, trying to be on time for your flight at Logan.  Probably helps drivers plan ahead to reach their off-ramp and reduces crashes.  But is this modification worth added billions?  How much of the cost increase is attributable to these kinds of changes?

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    I would also like to see a map, showing locations of subcontractors on the project, how much money they received, what they provided and who was their legislator during the period of their contract.  Maybe it won’t show anything suspicious, but maybe it will start to look like a little military/industrial complex situation, right here in the Commonwealth of MA. 

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    Some studies or audits were done during the process – I remember reading two from the federal General Services Administration, criticizing the crazy logic the Pike was using to maintain the illusion of being “on budget”; another was done by the state auditor and identified (I believe) about $1 million in cost overruns on a toll plaza design.  The people who did those reports should be part of the information-gathering process. 

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    Why weren’t more comprehensive reports or audits done?  Where was the consistent follow-up from one year to the next?  Were laws followed that mandated separate and sustained funding of transportation projects outside the Big Dig? 

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    Federal officials who oversaw the project should also participate in the hearings.  Also, past board members of the Turnpike Authority. 

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    I may think of more later.  Ooo.  I get so mad!

    • “I would also like to see a map, showing locations of subcontractors on the project, how much money they received, what they provided and who was their legislator during the period of their contract.”

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      That is an awesome comment. I greatly doubt it will happen by the gov’s own volition tho – it looks too much like logic and accountability.

  6. ”I bought a lot of guys who didn’t become super stars,” said Jim Kerasiotes. 

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    That’s the understatement of the world. 

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    He said this in 2005.

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    Of course he was ostensibly talking about baseball card collection.  But still.

  7. That corporation creates misery while raking in huge bucks from Boston to Bolivia.  They’re currently raking it in in Iraq, too–wonder when we’ll get more info on what they’re neglecting there.

  8. Weld fundraiser and Bechtel lobbyist Peter Berlandi.  The Globe has a great story on some of the inside dealings of the Dig from the 2003 Spotlight series (or whatever they were calling it then) entitled “Easy Pass: Why Bechtel Never Paid for its Big Dig Mistakes”  The article on lobbying is here.

  9. What if Bechtel’s defense to lawsuits is that MA government was so corrupt that they were intentionally deceived by conspiring subcontractors and MA state officials? That probably will be their defense.

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    Bechtel didn’t become Bechtel by doing shoddy work. They’re no angels, but there were so many cockroaches running around in the dark on this project looking for and stealing crumbs that they all couldn’t be killed.  so Bechtel work around them as best they could. Turned lemons into lemonade

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    • Bechtel is in a class nearly all their own as one of the handful of corporations big enough to do megaprojects like the Big Dig, along with Parsons, Halliburton, and a few others.  They may not have gotten there by doing shoddy works, but power corrupts.  And right now, Bechtel is one of the most powerful corporations in the world.

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