UPDATE: Powers Fasteners denies negligence in Big Dig tunnel’s ceiling collapse

Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 8/9/2007 9:55:00 AM

Powers Fasteners, which yesterday was indicted on a single charge of of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the fatal ceiling collapse in one of Boston’s “Big Dig” tunnels last year, denied responsibility for the accident.

The indictment alleges that the Brewster, N.Y.-based fastener manufacturer supplied the epoxy, “Power-Fast Epoxy Injection Gel Fast Set,” used to secure the concrete ceiling of the tunnel that collapsed last July, killing 38-year-old Milena Del Valle.

But Powers maintains it told engineers in 1999 that the fast-set epoxy was the wrong product for securing the ceiling, the New York Times reported.

'We are stunned, beyond belief. The only reason that our company has been indicted is that unlike others implicated in this tragedy, we don’t have enough money to buy our way out,' president Jeffrey Powers said in a statement.

Massachusetts is negotiating a settlement with Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the engineering firm that managed the design and construction of the Big Dig, and other companies involved in the project. Powers’ remark was apparently made in reference to the Bechtel negotiation.

Powers Fasteners sent $1,287.60 worth of both standard-set and fast-set epoxies to the project and didn’t know the fast-set was being used to suspend the concrete ceiling, according to the statement.

The company told state officials before the ceiling installation that the fast-set epoxy failed a so-called “creep test” and shouldn’t be used for the ceiling.

'At no time did anyone ever tell Powers, and Powers never had reason to believe, that its Fast Set product was used in the tunnel ceiling,' Powers said, according to the Boston Globe.

Powers Fasteners maintained that in 1999, when a company engineer was called to the job site, the engineer was not allowed to perform “the very test that the [National Transportation Safety Board] now states should have been done,” according to the statement.

Powers did not return a call from INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION seeking comment.

The NTSB found that the epoxy lacked the “creep resistance,” or long-term strength, necessary to support the ceiling’s weight, faulting Powers for failing to indicate that the epoxy was unsafe for long-term applications. The board called for the company to revise the packaging to state explicitly that it is approved for 'short-term loads' only.

'There is no evidence that the company ever communicated with the contractor in regard to which (epoxy) formula should be used,' an NTSB letter to Powers states, the Boston Herald reported.

The letter also indicates that Powers’ marketing materials do not explain the strength difference between the two epoxies. The company changed its literature to reflect the difference last May.

Paul Ware, a special assistant attorney general who investigated the case against Powers, said that when bolts began pulling out within months of the ceiling’s installation in 1999, the Powers engineer didn’t mention the “creep” that could loosen the bolts.

'They were more than asleep at the switch,' Ware said. 'They could observe for themselves firsthand what was going on in the tunnel. They were on site. … At the end of the day, this epoxy having been used, Powers simply remained silent with respect to its characteristics in such a way that ultimately resulted in this tragedy.'

And a Massachusetts highway engineer refused to approve the fast-set epoxy, according to a report from Design News.

In a memo sent August 19, 1999, Clement Fung, deputy director of materials research for the Massachusetts Highway Department, said he would not approve use of the fast-set material because 'the time is too short to make adjustments during construction.'

The maximum gel time is 20 minutes for the fast-setting epoxy and 45 minutes for the standard epoxy, with cure times of three hours for the fast-set and seven hours for the standard set.

Another memo from Powers showed that Glenn Bell, CEO of engineering firm Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger Inc., discussed the creep issues with Fung.

'For the Quick Set anchors, [Fung] wants to see the high-temperature creep test results,' Bell wrote. 'He indicated his approval of the Quick Set anchors will hinge on how close or far the anchors came to meeting the high-temperature creep tests.'

Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger was hired to seek approval for the epoxy.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the company faces a maximum penalty of $1,000. No individual has been charged “as of yet” in the case, she said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Del Valle, a mother of three, was killed at about 11 p.m. July 10, 2006 when she and her husband were driving through one of the $14.6 billion project’s tunnels on their way to Boston’s Logan International Airport.

As their car approached the end of the tunnel, a roughly 26-ton section of the ceiling came loose and fell onto the vehicle, crushing its passenger side. Del Valle’s husband Angel, who was driving, escaped with minor injuries.

The indictment opens the possibility that Powers could be found liable in civil suits filed by Massachusetts and Del Valle’s family, who have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and eight other companies.

'We’re very gratified that the attorney general of Massachusetts and a sitting grand jury indicted a defendant in this case for manslaughter, evincing their thought that it was not mere negligence, but willful, intentional misconduct on their part,' said Jeffrey Denner, an attorney for Angel Del Valle.

Coakley said a criminal conviction might assist prosecutors in civil efforts to recover damages, and that companies involved might face additional punishment by being temporarily barred from doing business with state agencies.

The attorney general stressed that the investigation is ongoing, noting that no individual has been charged 'as of yet.'

'I won’t be satisfied until there's a conviction in this case. There's a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of threads to be followed,' she said.

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