Alva Review-Courier -

DENVER (AP) — A former Veterans Affairs Department executive who was harshly criticized by Congress for massive cost overruns at a new Colorado VA medical center said he was never told the price had ballooned to more than $1.7 billion before he left the agency, and does not know how it happened.

"I'm just astounded, quite frankly, I'm absolutely astounded," Glenn Haggstrom told The Associated Press in a rare interview.

Haggstrom, who was the VA's top construction official when the project nearly collapsed amid legal disputes and skyrocketing costs, said the last estimate he heard from the buil...