BOSTON (AP) – Gov. Mitt Romney served the head of Boston’s Big Dig with written allegations of mismanagement and moved forward Tuesday in his efforts to oust him, while crews worked to repair a tunnel network where tons of ceiling panels fell, crushing a motorist.

Romney has for years been a critic of Matthew Amorello, the chairman and chief executive of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the massive $14.6 billion highway project, and has repeatedly failed in his effort to get Amorello to quit.

However, Romney said the fatal accident July 10 bolsters his argument the project has been mismanaged and Amorello should be removed as chief executive. A hearing was scheduled for July 27 on Amorello’s dismissal. Romney refused to release the specific allegations and said the hearing would be private.

“I haven’t released the personnel records of any person at this stage and wouldn’t intend to do it now while this hearing is pending,” Romney said after touring the tunnel Tuesday. “We believe that the failures at the Turnpike Authority are now so extensive and so clear that a court will agree that Chairman Amorello should be removed through my actions.”

Romney said he will attend the hearing and listen to Amorello’s side before officially deciding his fate. Amorello has the option of contesting the decision in court.

Amorello, who has repeatedly refused to resign, declined to comment. He was appointed by Romney’s predecessor to head the authority in 2002, the agency’s fourth chief in just two years. By the time Amorello took over, the bulk of the construction was done. He makes $223,000 a year.

Methods for reinforcing heavy concrete ceiling tiles in the Big Dig tunnels were tested successfully Monday and Tuesday, and Romney said he hoped at least one ramp that has been closed since the collapse would be reopened by early next week.

Engineers on Tuesday began working on a design to put the back-up system in place for the 1,100 hanger bolts that used epoxy which tests have shown to be unreliable.

—-

Knife company to sell plant in W. Mass.

BUCKLAND, Mass. (AP) – A company that’s been making cutlery in the same western Massachusetts plant since before the Civil War has put those facilities up for sale.

Lamson & Goodnow, which in the past three years has moved its corporate headquarters and shipping department to Greenfield, says it has too much unused space at its Shelburne Falls manufacturing facilities.

“We’re competing in a global market where we can’t raise prices. In fact, we have to lower prices and improve our costs,” chief executive officer Ross Anderson told the Greenfield Recorder.

The company’s 30 employees operate machinery in four different buildings, he said. The space was more useful during the Civil War days, when the company had hundreds of workers.

Anderson said he’s looking for a more efficient facility and he hopes to remain in western Massachusetts.

Arthur Schwenger, executive director of the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association, said residents are worried.

“There’s concern about the jobs,” he said Tuesday. “There’s concern about a piece of history that seems to be leaving.”

The company was founded in 1834 by Silas Lamson. During the Civil War, it also manufactured rifles for the Union Army.

In recent years, the company added new product lines such as cutting boards and other kitchen products that now comprise 70 percent of its business.

A company spokeswoman did not return a call to comment Tuesday.

—

Information from: The Greenfield Recorder: http://www.recorder.com/

—-

6-foot alligator captured in Massachusetts

TOWNSEND, Mass. (AP) – The Florida-like weather in Massachusetts brought out the Florida wildlife, as environmental police captured a nearly six-foot-long alligator Tuesday in this town northwest of Boston.

A driver called to report the alligator lying in the middle of a road at about 11:30 a.m. Police who responded to the scene found the alligator, with its snout taped shut, off the road in a marshy area, Chief Erving Marshall Jr. said.

“It certainly was surprising to find something like this up in this area,” Marshall said.

The alligator had a broken tooth and a mouth injury that Marshall said may have been caused by the animal itself trying to remove the black electrical tape. The animal was taken to Rainforest Reptiles in Beverly, where it will receive proper medical attention.

The male creature will eventually be taken to a Florida alligator farm because it cannot be returned to the wild, said Michael Ralbovsky of Rainforest Reptiles.

Taping its snout shut was a “virtual death sentence,” he said.

Police have no idea how the alligator ended up in Townsend, a town of about 8,500 residents 40 miles northwest of Boston. It was found on Old City Road, about 200 to 300 feet from the nearest home.

“We theorize that it was a pet that either escaped, or basically that somebody took it here and released it after it got too big to care for,” Marshall said.

It is illegal to own an alligator in Massachusetts without proper permits.

The alligator’s owner, if located, could face charges.

“It’s cruel to leave an animal like that to fend for itself,” Marshall said.

—

Contractor fined in fatal Holyoke building collapse

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – Federal workplace safety regulators have fined a demolition contractor more than $164,000 for alleged safety violations, including numerous violations at a building collapse in Holyoke that killed one worker and seriously injured another.

Associated Building Wreckers Inc. of Springfield was fined a total of $114,900 for alleged safety violations in connection with the January collapse on Main Street in Holyoke.

Herbert Marcoullier, 42, died when the roof, fourth floor and part of the third floor of the four-story unoccupied building collapsed.

Among the violations, the company failed to adequately brace portions of the damaged building and failed to provide employees with proper protection, officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.

Associated Building Wreckers was also fined $49,500 for alleged hazardous working conditions at a Chicopee work site.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to contest the fines.

AP-ES-07-18-06 1813EDT