Politics Have Kept Costly Big Dig Afloat

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, speaks to members of the media outside one of the Big Dig tunnels Saturday, July 15, 2006, following a tour of the deadly Big Dig highway tunnel in Boston. Mike Lewis, Big Dig project director is at center. A female motorist was crushed to death by falling concrete in one of the Big Dig tunnels late Monday night. Gov. Romney signed an emergency bill Friday morning that gives him, rather than the Turnpike Authority chairman, ultimate say on when the tunnel reopens. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) (Lisa Poole Stf - AP)

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pulled the plug on one fundraising event involving Big Dig contractors as controversy over tunnel leaks flared. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., gave back $2,000 from two political action committees for Big Dig contractors during the leak controversy.

State Attorney General Tom Reilly, too, has taken heat for $35,000 in Big Dig-related contributions while pursuing project cost-recovery efforts.

Now, both Romney and Reilly have taken central roles in the investigation into the ceiling-panel collapse that killed a 38-year-old Boston woman.

___

On the Net:

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority: http://www.masspike.com/bigdig/index.html

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge: http://www.leonardpzakimbunkerhillbridge.org/

Bechtel Corp.: http://www.bechtel.com