Safety Recommendations Expected To Prevent Gas Explosions

Governor Rell’s panel of state agencies, investigating the February explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant site in Middletown is meeting today. The panel is expected to report on whether labor laws and safety measures were followed --- and to make  recommendations for the future.
 
Later this month, on June 28th, the federal agency investigating the cause of the explosion will hold a public hearing in Portland. 
 
On the morning of the public hearing the U-S Chemical Safety Board is  expected to publish a draft of its safety recommendations for a  practice known as “gas blows”. This is when natural gas is blown  through new pipes on industrial sites to clean them. CSB  investigators have reported workers at the Kleen Energy site were  conducting a gas blow just moments before the explosion which tore  apart the billion dollar power plant and killed six men. Daniel
 Horowitz of the CSB says adequate safety rules are needed.
 
"We regard the release of gas in or near work places as basically an  open invitation to disaster. Clearly things need to change. There  need to be recommendations and standards put in place that would  prevent these accidents in the future.”
 
Horowitz says the CSB is inviting the public to speak at the meeting. The Board is expected to vote on federal safety recommendations for  gas blows that evening. 

For WNPR, I'm Nancy Cohen.