Jul 27, 2006 9:59 am US/Eastern
Big Dig Chief Resigns
BOSTON (CBS) ―
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Matt Amorello has resigned effective August 15th.
CBS4
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman, under fire since 12 tons of falling ceiling panels killed a motorist in a Big Dig highway tunnel, agreed Thursday to resign after weeks of pressure from the governor.
Matthew Amorello's resignation will be effective Aug. 15, but he will continue to receive his $223,000 annual salary through Feb. 15.
He announced his decision an hour before a scheduled hearing during which Gov. Mitt Romney planned to seek his removal.
"I think this is good news for the commonwealth, the right step for Matt Amorello to have taken," Romney said. "Clearly it will save the taxpayers and the rate-payers the cost of an extensive legal battle, and it also allows the citizens and toll-payers to have confidence again in the Turnpike Authority and new leadership that will be installed."
Romney has long been critical of Amorello, a fellow Republican appointed by Romney's predecessor, and he has repeatedly called on him to step down. After the deadly July 10 ceiling panel collapse, Romney seized control over state tunnel inspections from Amorello's agency.
Amorello, 48, a former state senator and failed congressional candidate, was appointed to head the Turnpike in 2002.
Since that time, he has shepherded the Big Dig highway project through the final phases of construction while maintaining its cost at an estimated $14.6 billion. However, he has faced consistent criticism for having what some described as an imperial manner and clashing with critics.
Though Amorello's job involves overseeing the 138-mile Mass Pike, which stretches from Stockbridge to Boston's Logan Airport, his primary responsibility is the Big Dig.
The massive highway project buried Interstate 93 under downtown Boston and linked Interstate 90 to Logan. It took more than a decade to complete because of delays and cost overruns and has been plagued by leaks, falling debris and problems blamed on faulty construction.
The ceiling collapse in a connector tunnel that routes traffic toward the airport led to the closing of nearby tunnel sections and restricted traffic in the Ted Williams Tunnel under Boston Harbor while engineers investigate the cause and devise fixes.
The focus of the inspections has been on epoxy-bolt fasteners that anchored the ceiling panels in some of the tunnels. More than 1,300 of those fastners failed "pull tests" in the past two weeks.
The collapse of the 3-ton ceiling panels is also under investigation by state and federal prosecutors and regulatory agencies.
Bruce Falby, an attorney for Amorello, has said his client was "driven by a sense of duty to fulfill his oath of office."
He argued that Romney didn't have the authority to demote Amorello at the independent agency and had not shown any need for urgency in holding a hearing to remove him.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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