"Big Dig" supplier pleads not guilty in tunnel collapse

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

"Big Dig" supplier pleads not guilty in tunnel collapse
Wed Sep 5, 2007 12:32PM EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A company facing criminal charges
from a fatal collapse in Boston's "Big Dig" tunnel system
last year pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to involuntary
manslaughter, setting the stage for a high-profile trial.

New York state-based hardware company Powers Fasteners
was accused of knowingly selling inadequate adhesive to
hold up concrete ceiling panels in the $15-billion tunnel
system, the largest public works project in U.S. history.

The privately held company says it was unaware that the
glue was intended to hold up the ceiling of the tunnel, and
claims the charges are intended to help Massachusetts
Attorney General Martha Coakley negotiate a settlement
with the project's lead contractor, Bechtel/Parsons
Brinkerhoff.

If convicted, Powers faces a maximum fine of $1,000, an
amount Coakley has admitted "may be wholly inadequate,"
with no jail time. But a conviction could help the state
in a separate civil case against Powers seeking to recover
damages from the ceiling collapse.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0521836720070905