Congressman, NTSB chairman clash on bridge investigation

A Democratic congressman on Wednesday urged the National Transportation Safety Board to reverse its decision not to hold an interim public hearing on last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

"In the greater Minnesota area, there is huge skepticism about the objectivity of the board in conducting this inquiry," Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., told NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker at a congressional hearing. "And I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, that a public hearing will dispel, go a long way to dispel, the questions raised and the lack of trust in the board's actions."

The board voted 3-2 last month not to hold a public hearing, heeding a staff recommendation that suggested it would slow down the investigation. The board's three Republicans, including Rosenker, voted against a public hearing, while the two Democratic board members voted to hold one.

Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday that he's more concerned with a thorough investigation than a timely one.

A final cause on the Aug. 1 bridge collapse, which killed 13 people and injured 145, won't be determined until later this year. But NTSB memos point to undersize steel plates and heavy loads of construction materials as the likely cause of the deadly collapse. In January, Rosenker called the undersized plates, known as gusset plates, "the critical factor" in the bridge collapse.

That early pronouncement has angered some Democrats, especially Oberstar, who has argued that it could commit the board to conclusions that will be difficult to change in light of further investigation. Meanwhile, the state's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, has viewed it as some vindication because the initial focus by critics had been on maintenance and upkeep.

Rosenker told Oberstar he had great respect for him, adding, "I don't enjoy being in your doghouse - believe me."

He called the decision not to hold a public hearing the toughest one he's made on the board. But he noted there are 13,000 steel truss bridges in the United States. The Minneapolis span was a steel truss bridge.

"There are 50 state DOTs that are waiting for the resolution of what we find in this investigation," said Rosenker. He said that typically, holding a public hearing adds two to four months to the length of an investigation, and that the board hopes to have a cause determined before the end of the year. At that point, the board will hold a public hearing on its results.

Oberstar said it was more important for the board to demonstrate its transparency with a public hearing now, which he said would be both a teaching and learning moment.

The committee's top Republican, John Mica of Florida, defended the board's decision, saying he saw no need for a public hearing.

"I don't think we should be pressuring them to go back and reverse all this," Mica said.