Global Fastener News

Powers Fasteners Charge Dropped In $16m Deal

Jason Sandefur

Powers Fasteners agreed to pay $16 million in exchange for one count of manslaughter being dropped against the company in the July 2006 death of a woman in Boston’s Big Dig tunnel.
In addition to the financial settlement, Powers reportedly agreed to recall its “fast-set” epoxy used in the tunnel that collapsed, as well as notify customers that the epoxy failed certain tests and is not recommended for sustained loads.
New York-based Powers Fasteners was charged in 2007 with manslaughter in the death of Milena Del Valle, who was crushed when the tunnel’s concrete ceiling collapsed. Powers Fasteners, which manufactured the epoxy blamed for the tunnel collapse, reached a $6 million settlement with the woman’s family in 2008.
“Our company accepts its share of responsibility as one of many businesses involved in the construction of the tunnel,” stated President Jeffrey Powers.
He noted that Powers Fasteners is a “very small company” with just 240 employees. “The indictment alone has put enormous stress on our business and our people in an economic environment posing its own special challenges. We are very happy to bring to a close this difficult chapter for all concerned.”
Powers was among more than a dozen companies and government entities sued by the attorney general’s office after Del Valle’s death. However, Powers was the only company facing a manslaughter charge over the incident.
Big Dig contractor Modern Continental Corp. faces 49 federal criminal charges for allegedly hiding shoddy workmanship.
Powers officials have insisted throughout the lengthy investigation of Boston’s Big Dig tunnel that their “fast-set” epoxy was to be used only to secure wall panels, not heavy overhead concrete ceiling panels.
“In 1999, Powers provided an engineering report on its epoxy types to all involved in the tunnel’s construction,” the company explained in a statement. “The report clearly stated that the standard setting version of our epoxy (“Standard Set”) was approved by the International Conference of Building Officials for long-term loads, but that the fast setting version (“Fast Set”) was approved only for short-term loads.”
Powers Fasteners said it sold Standard Set to the distributor supplying the Big Dig. Powers believed that Standard Set was used for the ceiling, and insisted it was never told otherwise.
The NTSB determined that Fast Set epoxy was used for the long-term suspension of the concrete ceiling panels that fell in 2006.
But prosecutors blamed Powers Fasteners for failing to determine that the wrong epoxy was used for the ceiling panels when company engineers inspected the tunnel after some ceiling bolts came loose during construction in 1999.
“Since the accident, much has been learned about epoxy creep and the need for proper training in the selection and installation of adhesive anchors,” Powers Fasteners concluded in its statement.
A National Transportation Safety Board report that spread broad blame for the ceiling collapse, concluding that designers and construction crews had not considered that the epoxy holding 5/8″ diameter threaded steel anchor rods embedded about five inches in the tunnel’s concrete roof could creep under load. The NTSB specifically faulted the ceiling designer for failing to stipulate which kind of epoxy to use during installation.
BACKGROUND
Powers Fasteners, which manufactured the epoxy blamed for the Big Dig tunnel collapse, was the only company charged with manslaughter in the incident.
During the July 10, 2006, collapse, 20 epoxy bolts popped out, releasing several 4,500-pound ceiling panels onto Del Valle’s car. The epoxy on some bolts reportedly showed signs of premature aging, suggesting that the glue had not been mixed correctly.
Inspections after the collapse showed that hundreds of bolts had come loose throughout that section of tunnel.
Investigators noted that glue on bolts removed from the tunnel roof near the accident site was brittle and cracked, not like smooth glass as it should have been, indicating that the epoxy potentially lacked sufficient compressive strength.
Allegations of faulty application techniques, such as using wire screens to apply the epoxy, surfaced in the months after the incident. Repair crews eventually reinforced the ceiling with heavy-load-tested embedded anchors that passed 14,000-pound pull tests.
As far back as 1999 some of the bolts began slipping soon after installation, prompting contractors to have Powers assess the problem.
When slight movement was detected in six 316 SS 5/8 inch threaded rod at 5 inch embedment about one week after installation, a Powers Fasteners field engineer was dispatched to evaluate the bolts.
“We discussed possibly conducting destructive testing, the engineer noted in a report provided to FIN. “This was not received very well. Tearing up the concrete even in a discreet location would be unacceptable to some.”
Torque tests at the time revealed that “the anchor (nuts) were tightened to 120 lbs” instead of the 90 lbs of torque specified by Powers Fasteners, which seemed to confirm the initial suspicion that the problem arose from misapplication.
But Powers Fasteners was denied the right to conduct pull tests to determine the cause of slippage.
The NTSB later faulted project consultant Bechtel/Parson Brinckerhoff and Gannett Fleming for failing to conduct pull tests on the anchors.
Fallout
After the indictment was announced, Powers Fasteners found itself at the center of a public firestorm. The company had to retain PR veteran Karen Schwartzman of communications consulting firm Polaris PR to handle the media blitz.
A New England newspaper editorial used a baking analogy to describe Powers Fasteners’ predicament.
“If you bake a yellow layer cake and you substitute a quarter cup of rat poison for unsalted butter, are the police going to arrest Duncan Hynes for not telling you rat poison ain’t the same as butter?”
The editorial went on to claim that “the attorney general has thrown in with the bandits – the owner (of the Big Dig) Massachusetts – in setting up Powers Fasteners as the patsy for a job the state screwed up.”
Powers Fasteners reportedly offered $8 million to settle the case before the charge was announced, but the offer apparently did not satisfy AG Martha Coakley’s demand that any settlement be painful.
Project manager Bechtel, who made billions on the project, was forced to settle for more than $352 million. And Modern Continental, which collected $3.2 billion in revenue on the Big Dig, settled for $26 million. But Powers Fasteners, whose revenue from the Big Dig totaled in the thousands, ended up having to pay $16 million to the state and another $6 million to the woman’s family, not counting attorney and consulting fees. While insurance will cover part of those costs, the company still faces the task of a payout for the settlement agreement.
While Plains attorney William Harrington said that Powers Fasteners had no choice but to settle, saying “I firmly believe the indictment wasn’t the worth the paper is what written on. It was used as a lever to coerce the Powers family to & settle for a monetary sum.”
Regrettably, 2008 turned personally tragic for the Powers family. One of Jeffrey Powers’ twin 9-year-old sons suffered serious leg, lung and head injuries after being struck by a car in June. William Powers is said to be responding well to occupational and physical therapy.
Then in October executive vice president Stephen Powers was killed in a motorcycle accident.
“It’s good to have it behind us,” Schwartzman said of the criminal charge. “I don’t know what (Powers Fasteners) could have done differently.”
Schwartzman was candid when asked if the settlement restores Powers Fasteners reputation in the business world.
“I certainly hope so,” Schwartzman told FIN. “Only time will tell.” �2009 FastenerNews.com