Caltrans Whistleblowers Were Not Retaliated Against, According To CHP Investigation
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — After an extensive investigation, the California State Transportation Agency said on Friday that two Caltrans whistleblowers claiming there were abusive practices in the construction of the new Bay Bridge were not retaliated against.
It was a supervising bridge engineer and a quality assurance contractor who came forward to say they suspected shortcuts were taken leading to questionable quality and safety concerns. The two subsequently assigned to different jobs but California State Transportation Agency Secretary Brian said a special probe turned up little.
"I asked the CHP to do…an eight-month long investigation that was quite thorough. They spoke to more than 50 witnesses, reviewed thousands of documents and essentially concluded that there's no violation of law here—and I think that's an important finding," he said.
Kelly said, however, that the investigation did turn up some questionable management practices.
"They did make some findings that communication could have been better the management and employees; transparency needs to improve in the operations of the project—the oversight of the project," he said.
For its part, Caltrans stated in the report that it has been working on improving its performance, accountability and communication.