from EXCITE.COM NEWS:

McCain Chastises on 'Big Dig' 
 
Updated 4:00 PM ET May 3, 2000
By CAREN BENJAMIN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John McCain, upset at massive cost overruns
for the "Big Dig" tunnel project through downtown Boston, said
Wednesday he may introduce legislation to ensure no more federal
money is spent on it.

"I think taxpayers deserve a law that says at some point this has to
stop," McCain told project officials during a hearing of the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that he chairs.

The Arizona Republican also berated the project's main contractor for
allowing costs to skyrocket and said future contracts for big public
works projects should include financial penalties for overruns.

"There should be some penalty. I don't know many places in the world
that would submit or accept this kind of performance," McCain told
Matthew Wiley, project manager for Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The project, officially known as the Central Artery/Third Harbor
Tunnel Project, will sink Interstate 93 beneath downtown Boston. It
originally was expected to cost $2.6 billion, but the latest federal
estimate pegs the price tag at $13.6 billion.

The federal government has earmarked $8.5 billion for the project,
which is expected to be completed in 2004.

Last month, Gov. Paul Cellucci removed Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority Chairman James J. Kerasiotes after auditors detailed how
Big Dig officials in February failed to report $1.4 billion in
expected cost overruns to federal officials.

In their report, auditors said the failure to immediately disclose
cost overruns "stands as one of the most flagrant breaches of the
integrity of the federal-state partnership in the history of the
nearly 85-year-old federal aid highway program."

Andrew Natsios, the new head of the turnpike authority, told McCain's
committee the state will not ask Congress for more money.

"This is our problem and we are going to deal with it," he said.

He also said he has begun cost-cutting initiatives, such as firing
the Big Dig's contingent of legislative lobbyists and public
relations consultants.

But McCain, noting the project is only 60 percent complete, expressed
concern the federal government still might be tapped for more money.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater acknowledged there is
nothing that would preclude Congress from spending more than $8.5
billion on the project.

"The cap is not in statute or necessarily in writing," Slater told
the panel.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said legislation to cap funding is
unnecessary.

"In effect there is a cap already because no one in the U.S. Congress
is going to vote for giving us more money ever again. Maybe the
Massachusetts delegation might but we are going to be roundly
beaten," he said.

Kerry suggested a written agreement signed by all parties.

Slater backed that idea. If such an agreement could not be made to
stick, then would be the time to look at legislation, he said.

"At the end of the day we may do that," Slater said.

"At the beginning of the day we may do that," McCain shot back.

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On the Net: http://www.bigdig.com