At least five dead in Connecticut power plant explosion, many more injured

MIDDLETOWN, Conn.
— A devastating explosion that was heard and felt for miles destroyed a
power plant Sunday morning as workers purged a natural gas piping
system, killing at least five and injuring many more, emergency
response officers said

Homeowners miles away said the 11 a.m. EST
explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems power plant created a shock wave
so intense they mistakenly thought the central part of the state had
experienced an earthquake.

Rescue officers worked throughout the day in an effort to prepare a casualty list. Middletown, Conn., officials confirmed at least five dead and dozens injured at 5:30 p.m.
just before a press conference about the accident. Hours after the
shocking blast, which blew out windows and cracked foundations of
neighboring houses, state police with specially trained dogs continued
to poke through the rubble of twisted steel, looking for victims.

Middletown Councilman Ronald P. Klattenberg said late Sunday afternoon that five people were missing, but the number of injured is not as large as initially feared.

“There are bodies everywhere,” a witness said in the
hours immediately after the explosion. Later in the afternoon rescue
personnel said victims may still be buried in rubble.

Middletown Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said there were “confirmed fatalities” but he did not know how many. He
said there were probably no more than 50 construction workers on the
site. Initial reports were that as many as 100 workers may have been at
the site.

“It was a massive explosion” Santostefano said.

Eddie Reilly, president of building trades council in Hartford, Conn., confirmed there were about 50 tradesmen on site Sunday morning.

The plant, which has been under construction for
years, was nearing completion. It was designed to generate electricity
by burning natural gas. Neighbors said they believed the explosion was
the result of an operating test.

Santostefano said the explosion was related in some
fashion to natural gas, but that the cause was still under
investigation. He said the explosion appears to have occurred when
operators attempted a “blow down” of natural gas pipelines, a procedure
that involves the purging of gas from the pipelines.

The power plant site, carved into a rocky bluff over a bend in the lower Connecticut River,
consisted of numerous structures. But Santostefano said he believes the
explosion occurred in the largest, a massive, square steel structure
known as the power block building.

Klattenber said the explosion blew out all sides of the power block buidling.

“Parts of the walls are just flapping in the wind,” Klattenberg said.

Santostefano said “They are taking the building
apart, piece by piece. If they do find anybody, they would be under the
rubble.” He said rescue workers were “search and rescue mode.”

He said authorities believe many of those on the site at the time of the explosion worked for O&G Construction, the general contractor building the plant, which was more than 95 percent complete.

Emergency response personnel poured into the site
after the explosion. Helicopters were airlifting victims to area
hospitals. Most victims were being taken to Middlesex Hospital in Middletown.

Eleven victims were taken to Middlesex Hospital. One suffered head injuries and was transferred to Hartford Hospital; two were treated for minor injuries in Middlesex Hospital’s emergency room and released.

Eight are still being treated for “multiple injuries” in the emergency room, said hospital spokesman Brian Albert.

The injuries include broken bones, orthopedic
injuries and bruises. One victim suffered a fractured pelvis, another
has a broken leg and several have internal injuries, hospital officials
said.

“We expect that we will be admitted two or three of those patients,” Albert said. Middlesex Hospital physician Jonathan Bankoff said the injuries were consistent with a blast; no burn victims were being treated at Middlesex.

Some of the victims were thrown 30 to 40 feet and
suffered abdominal injuries and broken bones, Bankoff said at a 2:30
press conference.

“The majority of our patients are telling that story,” he said.

Publicly records associated with the Kleen Energy
plant permitting process show it was designed to generate electricity
principally by burning natural case to power a combined cycle turbine.
Such turbines reuse waste heat produced the power generation process,
increasing the plant’s efficiency.

The plant operators proposed that when sufficient
supplies of natural gas were not available, the plant would operate on
low sulfur fuel oil.

The project was proposed mostly for the benefit of power consumers in the Middletown area, according to publicly available information.

Kleen Energy Systems received approval to generate 520 megawatts — enough electricity for 364,000 to 520,000 households — in November 2002 from the Connecticut Siting Council. As of 2006, the company was petitioning the Siting Council to be able to produce 620 megawatts. A megawatt is enough to serve 700 to 1,000 homes.

A resident of East Hampton almost directly across the river from the plant said he heard a load booming explosion at about 11 a.m.
Immediately afterward his house was hit with a concussion that caused
him to believe someone had driven an automobile into his home.

The concussion interrupted services at a nearby East Hampton church, causing parishioners to speculate that the area had just experienced an earthquake.

Homeowners across the river in Portland said the concussion blew out windows and doors and cracked concrete structures.

Other witnesses said they felt the concussion as far away as North Branford and Durham.

A homeowner in Branford said “My entire house shook, followed by what sounded like an explosion.”

Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who opened the state’s emergency operations center in Hartford. She said the state Department of Health transported tents to the scene for shelter and medical triage.

At least 100 firefighters extinguished a fire that
flared briefly after the explosion. By mid afternoon, authorities said
there was no further danger to the public.

—

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