Conn. blast probed
Toolbox
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN The Associated Press - Published: February 9, 2010
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Authorities launched a criminal investigation Monday into the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction, saying they couldn't rule out negligence.
"If everything went right, we wouldn't all be here right now," Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said.
"There's a point where negligence raises to the level of criminal conduct, and that's what we're investigating."
The powerful explosion blew apart large swaths of the nearly completed 620-megawatt Kleen Energy plant as workers for the construction company, O&G Industries Inc., were purging a gas line Sunday morning.
The blast tore apart sheet metal that covered the plant's sides and left parts of the complex so unstable that rescuers were unable to work Monday because of the danger of collapse.
The mayor said rescue crews had been unable to get to all areas of the plant and he could not say for certain that no more victims would be found.
But authorities also said everyone who was assigned to work at the plant at the time of the explosion was accounted for.
Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said the death toll should stand at five.
"We needed something to lift spirits around here, and that definitely did it," he said.
The men who died were identified by police as Peter Chetulis, of Thomaston; Ronald J. Crabb, 42, of Colchester; Raymond Dobratz, 58, of Old Saybrook; Chris Walters, 42, of Florissant, Mo.; and Roy Rushton, of Hamilton, Ontario.
Walters was the safety supervisor for Keystone Construction, the power plant's electrical contractor, whose job was to make sure everyone complied with federal work safety rules, his widow, Fran Walters, told The Associated Press. Crabb was a foreman, his brother Carl Crabb told the News-Tribune of LaSalle, Ill.
A representative of the local Plumbers and Pipefitters union, Michael Rosario, broke down crying as he talked about the men on Monday.
"We hug our families, kiss our children," he said. "We go to work, and we want to come home at the end of the day, safe. That didn't happen for a few people yesterday."
It was still unknown what caused the blast.
Middletown's acting chief of police, Patrick McMahon, said police had ruled out any intentional act and were focusing on whether there was negligence.
Workers for O&G Industries, a Torrington-based general contractor, were clearing the gas lines of air when the explosion happened just outside the building, between two of the generators, Giuliano said.
During the procedure, local officials said, equipment such as welding machines and electricity should be shut off. Santostefano said officials don't know if all equipment was shut down before the blast, and Giuliano said investigators will look into whether any equipment was on or anything that could have ignited the gas was at the scene.
Santostefano said workers were at the site Sunday, a few hours before the Super Bowl, because they were trying to get the plant, slated to open in the middle of 2010, open on time. He added: "It wasn't like they were working in a frenzy."
Officials from United Association Local 77, which represents plumbers and pipefitters who work at the site, did not comment Monday on what happened to cause the explosion. A spokeswoman for Energy Investors Fund, a private equity fund that indirectly owns a majority share of the power plant, would not comment.
11