Big Dig: The maximum penalty for a company charged with manslaughter in Massachusetts is $1,000

As a follow up to:
my previous post on the Big Dig

Today's news:

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer
August 8, 2007

Powers Fasteners Inc., was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The Brewster, N.Y.-based firm was the only company involved in the construction and design of the tunnel to be indicted by the Suffolk County grand jury, Coakley said.

A report from the National Transportation Safety Board released last month found the July 10, 2006, collapse could have been avoided if designers and construction crews had considered that the epoxy holding support anchors for the panels could slowly pull away over time.

...

Prosecutors said Powers Fasteners knew the type of epoxy it marketed and sold for the nearly $15 billion project was unsuitable for the weight it would have to hold, but never told project managers.

"They failed to make that distinction clear," said Paul Ware, hired as a special investigator by Coakley.

...

In the report released last month, federal investigators spread blame for the collapse among the many corporations, consultants and engineers involved in the Big Dig project, the most expensive highway project in U.S. history.