Sources: Big Dig settlement near

January 22, 2008 07:18 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff

The attorney general's office is set to announce a settlement over Big Dig defects that would garner the state more than $400 million, most of it from Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consortium that oversaw the design and construction of the massive public works project, according to two sources who have been briefed on the negotiations.

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff will pay nearly $400 million and several other companies that designed various pieces of the Big Dig, will be responsible for about $50 million, the sources said. The announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

The payments will generally release the companies from any further liability and will free Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff from any potential criminal charges in the July 2006 Interstate 90 tunnel ceiling collapse that killed a Jamaica Plain woman.

Under the terms of the settlement, which both the attorney general and the United States attorney have approved, authorities could seek additional damages from Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff only in the event of a catastrophe -- that is, an incident that causes more than $50 million in damage. In that case, before Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff had to pay, an arbitrator would have to determine the company was to blame.

Also, under the agreement, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has government contracts around the country, would not be prohibited from getting future government contracts.

The money will go into a special trust fund that will be used to pay for Big Dig costs and repairs in the future. As a condition for approving the settlement, federal transportation authorities and the Justice Department sought assurances that the money would not go into the state's general fund, one of the sources said.

Milena Del Valle, 38, died July 10, 2006, after concrete panels weighing 26 tons fell from the Interstate 90 connector tunnel ceiling, smashing the car she and her husband were riding to Logan Airport. The death stunned the region and touched off multiple criminal and civil investigations. It also caused a political uproar, ultimately forcing the resignation of Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello.