Posted on 01/24/2008 4:57:30 AM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
Congressman Jim Oberstar chastised the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board Wednesday for publicly declaring the cause of the 35W Bridge collapse before the investigation was complete.
Oberstar sent a letter to the NTSB Chairman Wednesday to raise what he describes as "serious concerns."
Oberstar worries that because of what’s already been said, the final report on the cause of the bridge collapse could be tainted.
"We do not today, know what caused the I-35 collapse," said Chairman Mark Rosenker last Tuesday.
However, a few minutes later, he said the gusset plates on the 35W Bridge were the wrong size.
"This is a very important finding, this tells us why the bridge collapsed," Rosenker had said.
In a letter to Rosenker, Oberstar called that statement "highly inappropriate."
"He's preempting the board's ultimate finding, that is very uncharacteristic of the board," Oberstar told 5 EYEWTINESS NEWS.
He said he wrote the letter to preserve the NTSB’s credibility and to remind Rosenker not to announce accident causes before the investigations are complete.
Oberstar did praise Rosenker for holding the Jan. 15 news conference to alert everyone of a potential bridge design flaw.
"His statement should have stopped with: We made this finding of an under designed gusset plate," said Oberstar.
Oberstar fears that Rosenker "committed the board to conclusions which will be difficult to change" if the investigators end up blaming something other than gusset plates for the collapse.
Rep. Oberstar blamed Rosenker’s inexperience, as Chairman for what he believes was an error in judgment.
Minnesotans once voted for Republicans??? Hard to believe!
Where did Congressman Jim Oberstar get his degree in structural engineering?
If we have a government of lawyers, this is what we get.
We used to. We seem to go for RINOs in a big way, now.....
Oberstar knows everything there is to know about everything. It happens when you go off to Washington.
Well, here are his qualifications:
http://www.oberstar.house.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BC386D638-32DC-4CC2-9D86-88BCAA4342CF%7D
He majored in French for his B.A. and European Studies for his M.A.
LOL.
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