Aug 8, 2007 3:22 pm US/Eastern
Epoxy Supplier Charged In Big Dig Tunnel Death
BOSTON (CBS) ―
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Milena Del Valle, 39, was crushed to death on July 10, 2006, when 12 tons of concrete ceiling panels fell from the Interstate 90 connector tunnel.
AP
The company that provided the epoxy blamed in the fatal Big Dig tunnel collapse was indicted Wednesday in the death of a motorist crushed by ceiling panels.
Powers Fasteners Inc., was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The Brewster, N.Y.-based firm was the only company involved in the construction and design of the tunnel to be indicted by the Suffolk County grand jury, Coakley said.
Milena Del Valle, 39, was crushed to death on July 10, 2006, when about 26 tons of concrete ceiling panels fell from the Interstate 90 connector tunnel as she and her husband drove toward Logan Airport.
Modern Continental Construction Co., the company that constructed the I-90 connector ceiling, used "fast-set" epoxy supplied by Powers to secure anchor bolts in the collapsed tunnel, federal investigators said.
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled the ceiling collapse could have been avoided if designers and construction crews had considered the possibility that the epoxy securing tons of ceiling panels could slowly pull away.
The "epoxy creep" factor was among the major findings released at the NTSB hearing in Washington, DC.
The $14.798 billion Big Dig, the costliest highway project in U.S. history, has been plagued by construction problems and cost overruns during the two decades it has taken to design and build it.
Last summer's accident spawned tunnel shutdowns, extensive ceiling repairs, a wrongful death lawsuit and a wave of federal, state and criminal investigations, including the NTSB probe.
Also pending is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Del Valle's family against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the agency overseeing the Big Dig, and several companies associated with design and construction of the project. The companies have said they stand behind their work.
(© 2007 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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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