The death toll from a Sunday explosion at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, should stand at five, according to Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who said everyone assigned to work at the blast site when the explosion occurred has been accounted for.

The explosion occurred about 11:15 a.m. Sunday at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project, and about 18 area fire departments responded. The explosion is thought to have occurred while natural gas lines were being purged in a procedure commonly referred to as “blow down.” About 100 contractors were said to be working in the area at the time of the blast.

Recovery efforts were suspended early Monday morning due to unsafe conditions and have yet to resume, the mayor’s office said. “Falling debris remains a concern on scene for investigators,” the mayor’s office said. “Wind gusts on site are anticipated at 25-plus miles per hour. Fire officials are working with police investigators in the facility.”

Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board are also investigating the explosion.

Police have a search warrant for an origin and cause investigation.

The 620 MW combined-cycle baseload plant was expected to begin operation this summer. Long-term contracts for the plant and others in the state were approved by regulators in 2007 (see Power Market Today, Aug. 23, 2007).

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she is assembling a panel of state agencies to identify the cause of the explosion and is forming a second group of state agencies, local officials and experts to review the findings of the panel and other investigations. The second panel will determine whether any changes should be made to Connecticut laws, state and local regulations or building and fire codes to protect both workers and residents living in the areas surrounding construction projects, her office said.

“There are so many unanswered questions: What led to this disaster? What were the contributing factors? Could anything have been done to prevent it? These are the questions that we must answer now, not only for the sake of the victims and their families but to avoid tragedies like this in the future.

“Our response to the Middletown explosion must follow two distinct but critical paths. We must first identify what went wrong and then determine every measure we can take to prevent future catastrophes. The reviews must be thorough, impartial and swift. And if there are concrete steps we can take in the meantime, we must be equally swift in putting those new measures into place.”

The site is about 20 miles south of Hartford.

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