Government at its best
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/10/worries_about_lights_were_kept_in_the_dark/?page=full
Selected quotes:
“The public has a right to accurate information,’’ Mullan wrote, “and we also have an obli gation not to shout fire in a crowded theatre when there’s no fire.’’
But the engineers in charge kept quiet. They filed no written report. They didn’t brief their boss. And when they asked federal regulators for money to fix a corrosion problem that “could’’ lead to falling light fixtures, they didn’t disclose that one had already fallen.
“I have a hard time believing [Mullan] didn’t know,’’ said Ernst, chief engineer of the region that includes the Big Dig. “I wish he had just stuck with the first [story] and been done with it . . . You don’t push your problems down to the employee below you because your job is at risk.’’
After years of scandals, bad press, and lawsuits alleging shoddy work, engineers freely admit they don’t like to write things down, prompting one transportation consultant to compare the atmosphere to President Nixon’s White House.
Ernst explained that engineers have become wary of writing things down since the 2006 ceiling collapse that killed Milena Del Valle because written records can become fodder for lawsuits.
The consultant, Taugher, wrote in his report about the light fixture incident that Ernst’s engineers told him “leaks are [a] huge issue. Air ducts are 80 percent full of water every night. Someone quitting could send a photo [to] the press and blow the thing up.’’
Tramontozzi cared most about getting credit for 10 weeks of unused vacation time, which would make him eligible for a state pension. Tramontozzi said that Mullan seemed amenable, even sending Tramontozzi an e-mail the next day urging him to “hang in there.’’