Powers Fasteners, Inc. Charged with False Statement in Connection with I-90 Ceiling Collapse on Big Dig Project |
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Topics: Interstate Highway System
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts
September 18, 2009
BOSTON, MA—POWERS FASTENERS, INC., a Brewster, New York company, was charged today in federal court with making a false statement in connection with the construction of a federally approved highway project, the I-90 connector tunnel.
Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks, Theodore L. Doherty, III, Special Agent in Charge of the New England Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division, announced today that POWERS FASTENERS, INC. (“POWERS”) was charged in a one count Information with making a false statement in connection with the construction of the I-90 Connector Tunnel on the Central Artery/Tunnel project (“CA/T”), a federally approved highway construction project.
The Information alleges that the general contractor, Modern Continental Corporation, responsible for constructing the I-90 tunnel ceiling, utilized a Powers Fasteners epoxy product, Power Fast Epoxy, to secure the drop ceiling to the roof of the tunnel using anchor bolts epoxied into drilled holes. POWERS, a global company specializing in manufacturing and marketing anchoring and fastening products for concrete, masonry and steel, sold two versions of the epoxy product, a Fast and Standard Set, that respectively took a longer and shorter amount of time to harden and set. It is alleged that POWERS was aware, through testing it had commissioned pursuant to then existing industry testing standards, that the Fast Set version did not perform as well as the Standard Set version under sustained loads, and in fact, was not suitable for long-term overhead loads like the tunnel ceiling. Allegedly, despite this knowledge, POWERS failed to disclose these facts in its published Design Manual in 1999 which was relied upon and submitted by the general contractor to the CA/T for approval. The CA/T thereafter approved the use of Power Fast Epoxy without specifying the Standard Set as the approved product, which was the only version of the two that was suitable for a long term load like the ceiling. The general contractor proceeded to construct the ceiling utilizing the Fast Set to secure the anchor bolts in the tunnel roof. Several of the anchor bolts ultimately failed, and on July 10, 2006, several ceiling panels collapsed on a vehicle, killing a motorist. The National Transportation Safety Board, after investigation, determined the cause of the failure was the use of the Fast Set epoxy.
POWERS has entered into a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office agreeing to plead guilty to the charge and be placed on federal probation. The parties have also agreed that POWERS pay a $100,000 fine as a penalty, taking into consideration the company’s $16 million settlement and deferred prosecution agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as its payment of a $6 million civil settlement to the estate of the victim.
The case was investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony E. Fuller and Jeffrey M. Cohen of Loucks’ Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.