Boston's Big Dig or Boston's Big Mistake?

Who decided that the best way to ventilate a ceiling was to suspend the basement floor over our heads?

On a simmering Tuesday morning I learned of the death of a Jamaica Plain woman. A 12-ton concrete section of the Central Artery Tunnel connector ceiling crashed into her car while she and her husband were traveling to Logan Airport on Monday night. Wednesday we learned that at least 60 more such problem areas exist in just the eastbound lane of the Turnpike connector to the Ted Williams Tunnel. From 1990-1996 I chronicled the development of The Big Dig in a series of documentaries for WGBH and the City of Boston, Community Development (http://www.polarisproduction.com/about.html ). I felt a deep regret over this Big Dig failure, sadness for Milena Del Valle who lost her life and for her husband, Angie, who escaped the accident but may never escape the memory.

In the early years it was hard to find fault with the CAT project. The Big Dig helped to bail out Boston in the wake of political and economic recession following Mike Dukakis’ failed race for the Presidency. The Big Dig provided high paying jobs for managers, engineers, designers and skilled building union workers. The money flowed from the federal spigot and most people were happy…even the neighbors who were mitigated out of the neighborhood into financially greener meadows. Word was out in the media to not rock the gravy boat and to keep coverage positive or access would be denied. Media access was highly controlled at building sites. So what happened to turn our rosy, cozy dream of a snarl free Boston into today’s CATmare? The same thing that seems to happen every time people have an opportunity to spend federal money- insufficient due diligence.

The Republican administration put Bechtel-Parsons-Brinkerhoff in place to “manage” the project and to dole out contracts to Republican cronies. The Democratic Legislators and Congressmen made certain that every worker had to join a skilled building union including those working for tiny contracting firms. Altogether this was a recipe for graft and corruption. As the pockets of the politicians grew with donations from contractors, union halls and pension funds, the will to open the Washington wallet remained. Oversight was overlooked. State managers, joint venture partners, contractors and union bosses got so busy counting the money that they forgot to ask what was happening with the project. Sometimes we would show up with cameras at embarrassingly empty sites and have to wait for workers to be assembled by the public relations team that always accompanied us. Taxpayers paid managers too much money to pay attention to the project. None of us paid enough attention to the fact that it was too much money for the project.

Has anyone stepped up to the mike and apologized to Angie Del Valle and Milena’s family for the 12 tons of concrete that landed on her? I have no desire to participate in the finger pointing blame game that is going on right now in Massachusetts between Governor Romney, Turnpike Chair Matt Amorello and Attorney General Tom Reilly. They should all resign in shame for not providing the leadership needed for due diligence of this project from the minute they each took office. The CAT budget raced from $2.3 billion in 1988 with a 3 year timeline to over $14.3 billion and almost 18 years to completion. No one noticed? When leaders of both major parties do nothing to stop a runaway train, it’s obvious that the fix is in on both sides of the aisle. Tom Reilly says he knew there were problems with ceiling panel bolts since a report warning about the bolts was made available in 1999. Why did he wait until someone was killed to investigate? As Attorney General he’s supposed to protect the public and now he's running as a Democrat for the Governor’s job? I am just as incredulous at the Independent candidacy of Christy Mihos who was on the Turnpike Board. Republican Governor Romney wants to be President? Well, he would fit right in with today's Republican administration and a Congress that supported Bechtel-Parsons-Brinkerhoff in Boston, Enron in Texas and have handed the keys for the port-a-potty to Halliburton in Iraq.

I shudder to think of compromises made in Washington. It’s amazing that the Massachusetts Democratic delegation stopped at $14.3 billion-or maybe they didn’t. Perhaps now that the project is nearing an end it will simply live indefinitely through a series of mishaps and investigations, roadway fixes and criminal investigations, lawsuits and political maneuvers. Each of these twists, turns and efforts to “fix” the tunnels will, of course, cost a tidy sum of funds from the state and federal coffers, but will be “necessary” to “restore public confidence and prevent more lives being taken”.

Translation -it’s time for the trial lawyers to get their share of the spoils.

It’s amazing how valuable a life becomes to politicians after it’s gone and how our daily lives seem to mean very little to these people except when they look for campaign contributions.

Dale Orlando holds an advanced degree in community and organizational development. Career successes include grants writing, television production and web development. Polaris Production LLC can assist fund raising in environmental issues, health and human services contact http://www.PolarisProduction.com/consult-form.html Our web design centers on vacation video sites and other stress reduction at http://www.smart-walks.com Dale Orlando is an Account Executive with Polaris Production and co-produced The Big Dig documentary series for television.
©2006, Dale Orlando