Boston – The state attorney general said Monday that he will sue the companies that worked on a Big Dig highway tunnel, claiming their negligence led to the ceiling collapse that killed a woman in July.
Attorney General Tom Reilly said he would seek unspecified damages for repairs, loss of tunnel use and toll revenue, and other economic factors in a lawsuit to be filed today in Suffolk Superior Court.
Reilly said that 15 companies involved in the management, design, construction or oversight of the Interstate 90 tunnel would be named in the negligence lawsuit, but that only one – project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff – would face the more serious claim of gross negligence.
The company knew early on about problems with the epoxy bolt system used to secure 4,500-pound concrete ceiling panels and had evidence of bolts slipping or failing, but still turned over the tunnel to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority in 2003 without warning of the “potentially dangerous situation,” Reilly said.
“The clock was ticking. The fuse was lit. It was just a matter of time until tragedy occurred,” Reilly said.
Evidence is now being presented to a grand jury that will decide whether criminal charges as severe as manslaughter will be brought, Reilly said.
Andy Paven, a spokesman for Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, said the company would not comment on Reilly’s lawsuit.
Reilly, who opted not to seek re-election to mount a failed run for governor, said he chose to file the suit now to avoid a question of statute of limitations. Under state law, lawsuits over defective construction usually must be filed within six years of completion, and a ramp that is part of the project in question was completed Nov. 29, 2000.
Four of the concrete panels fell on a car in which Milena Del Valle, a 39-year-old from Boston, was a passenger July 10, killing her.
