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May 4, 2006 11:20 pm US/Eastern
Executives Of Big Dig Concrete Supplier Arrested
by Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
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Aggregate is being investigated for allegedly using inferior concrete in the Big Dig from 1999-to-2003.
WBZ
There are new questions about the integrity of the Big Dig tunnels, namely the concrete used to build them.
Six men are now charged in a scheme to defraud the government out of millions of dollars. It's the latest hit to a massive project that cuts right through the city and spans years. CBS4 chief correspondent Joe Shortsleeve has been breaking news on this investigation from the start.
They've been looking at this company for a while. This is a significant development. And it's been in the works for years.
About 5000 truckloads of concrete provided to the Big Dig by Aggregate Industries are in question.
The six men were managers of the company, and the feds say this scheme cost taxpayers at least $105 million.
Inferior, sub-standard, poor quality concrete -- thousands and thousands of yards of it – were used to build the tunnels in the Big Dig.
"This is bad," said Attorney General Tom Reilly. "This is pretty bad."
A joint state federal investigation has determined Aggregate Industries, which supplied 60 percent of the concrete for the massive $14 billion project job, scammed taxpayers.
"The conduct alleged in today's (Thursday's) indictment is illegal and is a front to hard-working Americans," said U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan.
And for the first time, investigators implied the leaks in the 1-93 tunnels could be the result of Aggregate's sub-standard concrete.
Five of the six men were in federal court, including Aggregate's general manager, who has worked for the company for 32 years.
Each faces the possibility of eight to 10 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
Aggregate Industries, a huge multi-national corporation, released a statement Thursday, saying it is satisfied that all of the concrete it has supplied on the Big Dig and throughout the Commonwealth is structurally sound.
Drivers Shortsleeve spoke to Thursday night were not so sure.
"It bothers me there is inferior concrete," said one driver. "I am about to go through there. I actually heard it on the radio about a half hour ago, so it makes me uncomfortable, yes."
"There are always floods in there and they spent this much time building … terrible," said another driver.
Four of the six men who still work for the company were suspended with pay Thursday.
As for the company itself, in 2003, it was suspended from doing any work on federal highways all across the country, but re-instated in 2004. The feds say this investigation has only just begun.
Aggregate currently has contracts with the state highway department worth tens of millions of dollars.
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