Patrick awaits answers on tunnel problem

Jeffrey B. Mullan, the state transportation secretary, said last week that he waited to tell the public because he wanted time to inspect the other lights in the tunnel and to repair any problems. But this week, Mullan acknowledged that he did not disclose the issue for five weeks because his own staff did not tell him about the problem for a month.

Mullan now says that the light crashed in the Thomas P. “Tip’’ O’Neill Jr. Tunnel on Feb. 8, that he found out about it on March 9, and that he told the governor about it on March 15, the night before disclosing the incident at a press conference.

Asked if anyone should be fired over the issue, Patrick said: “I’m about getting the facts first, and I want to get the facts.’’

“It’s a problem not just for you all, but for me that the facts sort of trickle out in bits and pieces,’’ he said. “The secretary is going to get those facts now and report to me and report to you.’’

Mullan issued a statement saying he would provide answers in the coming days to the governor and to the public.

“I have acknowledged our failure to alert the public in a timely manner and the lapse in our internal communications, which we are currently working to address,’’ he said. “We are continuing to gather facts in our review of this matter and will provide an update upon completion of that review.’’

He said he expects an inspection of the 23,000 tunnel light fixtures to be completed later today.

“As we have inspected the lighting fixtures, we have secured any fixture found to have corrosion issues, and the tunnels remain safe,’’ Mullan said. “We are working with the Federal Highway Administration to complete a full assessment of the cause of the fixture failure and corrosion issues.’’

Patrick said the most important issue was that the light fixtures are being secured.

But asked about Mullan, the governor said, “What he has to sort out is why there is such a breakdown in communication within the transportation organization.’’

Mullan is Patrick’s third transportation secretary, a politically sensitive position, given the history of cost overruns and construction problems during the Big Dig. The project is still overshadowed by the death of Milena Del Valle, who was crushed by falling concrete in the Interstate 90 connector in 2006, before Patrick was governor.

Mullan has built strong ties to city and state political leaders, unlike some of his predecessors. Yesterday, one frequent critic of the Patrick administration stood by the transportation director.

“I don’t know that he deserves to lose his job over it,’’ said Bradley H. Jones Jr., the House Republican leader. “I think Mullan has brought a pretty good record and history to the job, but it is particularly frustrating.’’

Patrick addressed the issue at the Orchard Gardens K-8 School, where he visited a fifth-grade classroom and held a photo opportunity before flying to New York City for a fund-raiser for his newly opened federal political action committee, the Together PAC.

On Wednesday, the director of the PAC, David O’Brien, had insisted that Patrick’s dinner at a Manhattan restaurant was not a fund-raiser, but a “prospecting event’’ intended to line up donors for the future. O’Brien had said that no checks would be solicited at the event.

But the governor said that O’Brien’s account was not accurate and that the dinner was, in fact, a fund-raiser. “I hope they’re going to pony up,’’ Patrick said. “That’s the point.’’

The governor refused to disclose the names of donors attending the dinner.

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.