Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan announced his decision while touring the Big Dig tunnel system with a group of lawmakers.
BOSTON - Helmut Ernst, the chief highway engineer in charge of the Big Dig tunnel system, was terminated effective immediately on Tuesday, making him the second top transportation official to lose his job in the wake of a light fixture collapse in one of the tunnels earlier this year.
Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan announced his decision while touring the Big Dig tunnel system with a group of lawmakers on Tuesday.
The announcement followed the conclusion of a review on Friday conducted by an outside law firm into comments Ernst made to the Boston Globe regarding a culture of secrecy surrounding highway safety issues at the transportation agency. Ernst had been placed on unpaid administrative leave July 13 pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by McKinsey & Company to provide an independent look at inspections and documentation procedures.
“That review caused me to conclude and the team to conclude that he can no longer serve as District 6 Highway director,” Mullan said, declining to elaborate on the findings of the review out of concern for personnel privacy issues.
Mullan said he had a great amount of “respect” for Ernst, and tried to reach an agreement with the engineer to serve in another capacity within the transportation department, but Ernst declined. Ernst will not receive a severance package.