Fatal Conn. Gas Blast Followed Worker’s Frantic Last-Minute Evacuation Call

Workers told the Courant that that they’d been smelling gas all day. The smell was so bad that some complained of dizziness and others left the building of their own accord. At the time, workers expressed alarm that welding and other work continued despite the pervasive smell of gas.

No local or state fire-safety official was present during the gas-line purge that being conducted, even though the operation is considered highly dangerous. Nor is there any regulation or law requiring an official presence during such an operation. 

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) called for national standards for purges after touring the blast site on Tuesday.

On the day of the explosion, workers were attempting a ​“blow down” or purge of the gas lines. Investigators told the Courant that the effluent was being pumped outdoors into a man-made depression. Investigators think that the blast occured during the final purge, when gas accumulated in a courtyard between two 200-ft towers. One on-site investigator told the newspaper that the purges created a ​“giant swimming pool of natural gas.”

Two days after the explosion, the Hon. George Miller, chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor agreed to hold a hearing to investigate the incident at the request of three Democrats from Connecticut: Reps. Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, and John Larson. A date has not yet been set.

The State of Connecticut convened its own special investigative panel this week. The panel will take the state police investigation as its starting point in an attempt to uncover possible deficiencies in safety, supervision, or training at the plant.