Oberstar asks NTSB to reconsider public hearing on bridge collapse

Congressman Jim Oberstar, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, strongly objected to yesterday’s decision by the NTSB to not hold a public hearing on the collapse of the I-35W bridge. In a letter [pdf] obtained by Minnesota Monitor, Oberstar, D-Minn., chided National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker for not being “fully candid” in a phone conversation the two had yesterday and questioned whether the decision was based on political considerations rather than the best interests of those affected by the tragedy.

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I appreciate your phone call yesterday, to notify me of the Board’s decision that it will not hold a public hearing to review the evidence on the causes of the collapse of the I-35W Bridge last summer. As I told you yesterday, and as I will reiterate in this letter, I strongly disagree with the decision that a hearing will not be held. In addition I am highly concerned that you did not tell me that the Board’s decision was not unanimous, and that two of the five Board members issued dissenting views, forcefully supporting the need for a public hearing.

In our conversation, you stated that a report of the Board’s staff, which you could not share with me, recommended against a hearing because it would not produce new information and would delay publication of the final report on the I-35W bridge collapse beyond December of this year. You did not share with me the concerns of the Board’s staff that there has been a “political” debate in Minnesota about the causes of, and the responsibility for, the accident. This information I learned from Minnesota news reporters who gleaned it from Board member’s dissent. This is unacceptable; you should have been fully candid with me.

For the NTSB staff to characterize concerns as political and for you to concur in that view makes you appear to dismiss citizens’ concerns as not worthy of serious consideration. This approach by a federal agency is very disturbing.