GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

Investigator Calls Pipe-Cleaning Procedure Unsafe

A federal safety investigator says officials are looking for safer alternatives to a venting procedure that led to a deadly explosion this month at an under-construction natural gas power plant.

Six workers were killed in the Feb. 7 explosion at the 620-megawatt Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Conn.

Donald Holmstrom of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said today that prior to the explosion, workers for O&G Industries Inc. purged a gas line used a practice known as a "gas blow," which put 400,000 cubic feet of gas mixed with air into a a small area close to the plant's power block.

Although the cause of the blast has not been determined, Holmstrom says finding what ignited the gas is not a major focus of the investigation because there are so many potential ignition sources.

But Holmstrom called the venting procedure "inherently unsafe." The board is strongly cautioning the industry against the practice, and Holmstrom says it is working to develop ways to find safer alternatives.

Holmstrom says the best way of preventing future accidents is by preventing or controlling the release of natural gas.

With the U.S. building more natural gas power plants, Holmstrom says it's important to develop standards.

"Thousands and thousands of workers across the country will be involved in constructing these plants. The safety of these workers and the nation's energy independence are at stake as these gas-fired plants are built over the next 20 years," he said.

Read Holmstrom's statement here.