Gas Explosion Kills Five Workers

The Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) deployed a seven-member team last week to investigate a fatal explosion at a natural gas electric power plant construction site in Middletown, Conn. On Feb. 7, five workers were killed and more than 20 were injured by a fire and explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant (shown), a 520-MW facility that was about to undergo testing of its gas turbines. The board’s investigation is being stymied by state and local enforcement officials, who initially blocked CSB investigators. The enforcement officers have confiscated combustible gas detectors and a surveillance camera, CSB sources say. As C&EN goes to press, CSB, the federal Department of Justice, and the state police commissioner were negotiating an agreement to allow CSB to investigate the accident’s cause. CSB is particularly interested in learning whether purging of gas lines led to the accident. Less than a week before the accident, the board issued an urgent recommendation that national fire codes should be changed to improve safety when gas lines are being purged.