Posted on 07/11/2006 12:18:46 PM PDT by raccoonradio
BOSTON Gov. Mitt Romney said he's taking legal action to remove Matt Amorello as head of the Big Dig after a woman was crushed to death by falling cement in one of its tunnels. Romney said nobody can feel comfortable driving through the tunnels.
Romney told reporters Tuesday afternoon that Amorello has "undermined public safety" through what he calls "leadership failures." He also said Amorello is “over his head” in the job and Romney wants to start a nationwide search for a replacement.
CBS4 has learned the attorney general has now launched a criminal probe into Monday night’s collapse in the I-90 connector eastbound tunnel.
38-year-old Milena M. Delvalle of Jamaica Plain was killed when three-ton concrete panels fell from the ceiling and crushed the car she was riding in.
CBS4's Jon Keller reports that Attorney General Tom Reilly has ordered investigators to seize debris from the collapse and records on the tunnel from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority offices.
Amorello, who toured the scene with Romney before the governor met with reporters, has asked State Police Major Michael Mucci to head the Turnpike's investigation into the accident.
“We will get to the bottom of what occurred here and hold any party responsible.” Amorello said at a late morning news conference.
Amorello said crews are now removing other panels in the eastbound side of tunnel that were held in place by the same kind of steel "tieback" suspected of failing in the accident. The westbound side panels will be removed Wednesday.
He said a different type of ceiling construction was used in the other Big Dig tunnels. But, as a precaution, they are inspecting the panels in the nearby Ted Williams Tunnel.
A steel tieback that held the 40-foot ceiling section in place gave way and landed on the car just after 11 p.m.
Delvalle was killed instantly. Her husband, 46 year-old Angel Delvalle, was driving the car. He escaped through a window with minor injuries. The couple was heading to the airport to pick up relatives.
Their car was partially crushed under at least four ceiling panels. It was in the left lane, giving the driver's side more protection as panels came to rest also on a left-side service walkway that is elevated several feet above the road.
Charlie Young was in the tunnel moments after the collapse. ”I literally saw the ceiling on top of the vehicle," he told CBS4 Tuesday morning. “I never saw anything like that in my whole life."
The ceiling panels were erected in 1999 and the contractor was Modern Continental. In a statement the company said, "We express our sincere condolences to the Delvalle family. Modern Continental is cooperating fully with the investigation into the cause of this tragedy. We are confident that our work fully complied with the plans and specifications provided by the Central Artery Tunnel Project. In addition, the work was inspected and approved by the Central Artery Tunnel Project."
A source close to the investigation told CBS4’s Joe Shortsleeve he thinks the bolts that held the massive panels in place were not properly fastened.
Amorello says the earliest the tunnel will re-open is Wednesday afternoon.
The accident happened about 200 feet from the end of the connector tunnel. The site is near the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, which goes under Boston Harbor to Logan Airport.
Traffic headed east to Logan will be detoured through the Callahan Tunnel, and westbound traffic exiting the Ted Williams Tunnel will be detoured through South Boston.
Governor Romney cut short his vacation in New Hampshire to return to Boston Tuesday morning.
>>he's taking legal action to remove Matt Amorello
ABOUT TIME, WILLARD!
Wonder when a criminal probe will be launched for the massive graft and corruption of the "Big Dig"
$15 billion boondoogle. Who's paying for it? Got a mirror?
Romney on Howie Carr show right now http://www.howiecarr.com
Why is everybody complaining? That tunnel was made in America by wicked well-paid union labor!
Ted Williams Tunnel? Is it a main thruway or just a head?.........
And the enlightened ones among us simply *can't* understand why this state is losing population.
"Wonder when a criminal probe will be launched for the massive graft and corruption of the "Big Dig""
If they locked up everyone who had their hands in that Big Dig pie, the Commonwealth would be almost empty.
I'm listening to Howie too - couldn't listen last week when David Hunt filled in for him - I like Hunt but he doesn't have a "voice" for radio.
The Ted Williams Tunnel is just about the only tunnel/bridge/government building in the state that's not named after a fellow-traveler hack leftist politician.
The state AG is the same guy Amorello said today told him, Amorello, to keep his mouth shut...
Translation: "Don't look at us if we did a crappy job and killed that lady. Our shoddy work was exactly as lousy as the state bureaucrats allowed it to be."
I asked my state rep. what would happen WHEN the tunnels are condemned. He said: "I don't know."
It's what our beloved former Governor,during his laughable Presidential campaign in '88,called "good jobs at good wages".
I think on or about the same day that pigs become airborn, monkeys fly from my keister, hell opens up a ski resort, etc.
If it does happen, though, I'd love to have front row seats and a trashbag full of popcorn. That would make for some fun watching.
that's exactly what I thought when I read the article..the ass covering has begun..
"Any party" meaning "any other party but ME".
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