Officials withhold critique of Big Dig tunnel leak report

A state report downplays the significance of leaks that have allowed nearly 2 million gallons of water to flow into the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. tunnel each month, but yesterday state officials withheld a two-page critique of the report prepared by an outside engineering firm.

In the state report, officials said that there had been a 50 percent reduction in the amount of water pumped out of the tunnel since 2003 and that the amount of water now escaping into it is below "industry guidelines."

The report, a 19-page PowerPoint presentation, was delivered to the Turnpike Authority board July 17 by Michael P. Lewis, the state director of the $15 billion Big Dig. But before Lewis made his presentation, Bernard Cohen, the state transportation secretary and chairman of the Turnpike Authority board, closed the meeting to reporters and the public.

Cohen said later that he wanted to avoid hurting legal efforts by the state to recoup money from Big Dig contractors, including Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the project's management consultant.

Cohen then contracted with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, an engineering firm hired last year to conduct a "stem to stern" safety review of the Big Dig after the fatal ceiling collapse, to review Lewis's analysis. Cohen said he asked for the review because "some of the information and analysis in that report was provided by Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff," though the consortium isn't mentioned in Lewis's presentation.

After days of promising to release the Wiss, Janney report along with the one from Lewis, state officials reneged yesterday, without explanation.

The Globe requested Lewis's report July 19 under the state public records law, but neither Cohen's office nor the Turnpike Authority complied with the legal requirement to furnish the records within 10 days or specify legal grounds to withhold them.

On July 1, the Globe reported that nearly 2 million gallons of water a month have been flowing through the O'Neill tunnel during the first quarter of 2007, an 18 percent increase over last year. At the time, a Turnpike Authority spokesman said leaks "are an issue we will have to deal with for the foreseeable future."

The authority's environmental permits called for 36,000 gallons of water a month to be pumped from the tunnels.

Sean Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com.