CONCORD— Peter Tortolano of Milford said he thinks he is being made the scapegoat for the freeze up at the state Health and Human Services building in January.

Tortolano, who was hired in July as a maintenance engineer, overseeing the maintenance and operations of the state's Concord buildings, was fired more than a month after the building's boilers malfunctioned Jan. 16, one of the coldest days of the year. He was told that as a probationary employee, he failed to meet work standards.

The temperature plummeted for several days over the holiday weekend and the damage was discovered nearly two days later. Damage estimates were near $1 million.

The freeze up closed the state's public health and safety labs in the building for about a week. The building also houses the Department of Environmental Services and the Department of Information Technology.

Tortolano, who was a facilities manager and engineer for more than 25 years at a Texas Instruments plant in Attleboro, Mass., before working for the state of New Hampshire, appealed his firing.

When Tortolano was fired March 12, his termination letter contained 18 items, only a couple related to the freeze up at the Health and Human Services building.

“They were gunning for me in a two-week period,” Tortolano said, “and made me look like I was incapable and incompetent.”

He said testing was not done on the alarm system and contractors were not doing the work they were supposed to do. Contractors were given incorrect information about building systems, he said, and did not test the systems as called for in the contract.

“I'm being made the scapegoat,” Tortolano said.

The alarm on the boiler that failed did alert the state's monitoring company when it malfunctioned, but the number the company had and called was not manned during the weekend.

When the boilers shut down, so did the pumping system that moves water throughout the building. Eventually the heat and water pipes froze and burst, sending water throughout the building and damaging equipment.

State general services administrator Ronald White, Tortolano's supervisor, said he was qualified for the position. White said after Tortolano's interview, they had a cup of coffee in the cafeteria and he explained what his goals were for the job.

During the first two months, Tortolano did an excellent job developing maintenance and a capital projects report for the state's building, but in December they met to discuss Tortolano's “transitioning to public employment” from the private sector and the difference in how they operate.

White said he discussed three instances with Tortolano, including the parking lot lights at the information technology center, sticking front doors at the State House and shutting down the emergency generator for an hour at the Emergency Management Center without informing anyone in the building.

White and Assistant Attorney General Rosemary Wiant went over the events leading up to the building freeze up, the freeze up and the clean up.

Wiant said Tortolano claims he is being made the fall guy for the freeze up and asked White if he believes Tortolano was the cause.

“No, I would never state that,” White said, “or that anyone is the primary cause for that boiler and the freeze up.”

But he said he the alarm system had been working properly and the system tested, it would have been a great help.

Wiant asked White why Tortolano was dismissed if it were not for the freeze up.

“Peter used extremely poor judgment in a number of areas,” White said.

“I lost hope when I asked him to check the alarms and it didn't get done.”

Before the hearing began, Tortolano said he took his firing personally and as a great offense and that is why he appealed to the Personnel Appeals Board.

Tortolano said he was told he could resign, but he said he did not want to do that because that would mean he could not appeal.

The hearing was continued until June 27.

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Garry Rayno may be reached at grayno@unionleader.com.