The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Workers in blast cannot file suits
Connecticut Supreme Court grants contractor immunity from litigation
HARTFORD >> The Connecticut Supreme Court says two workers injured in a power plant explosion that killed six other people in 2010 cannot sue a contractor for damages for alleged negligence.
Justices issued a 6-1 decision Wednesday saying contractor O&G Industries of Torrington is immune from the lawsuit under state law because the contractor bore the cost of workers’ compensation benefits paid to the two subcontractor workers.
Six workers died Feb. 7, 2010: Peter C. Chepulis, Ronald J. Crabb, Raymond E. Dobratz, Kenneth W. Haskell Jr., Roy D. Rushton and Vance C. Walters. About 50 others were injured. The court rejected arguments by the work-
ers, James Thompson and James McVay, that O&G Industries passed on the cost of workers’ compensation insurance to subcontractors.
The explosion occurred during construction of the Kleen Energy power plant. The 11:20 a.m. blast, which took an hour for firefighters to contain, took place in the power block building, one of the larger ones that comprise the Kleen Energy plant, with the most damage at the back.
Authorities said crews were using natural gas at high pressure to clean out pipes and something sparked an explosion. The state later banned the “gas blow” practice.
The plant, which opened 17 months after the explosion, provides 620 megawatts of power for New England’s electric grid.
Since then, federal officials developed a new standard on how industrial gas-piping systems should be cleaned because of the “gas blow” procedure that was blamed for the tragedy. The plant exploded after something ignited 400,000 cubic feet of gas and air that had accumulated during that procedure, in which high-pressure gas is forced through pipes to remove debris.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration later fined several companies involved in the construction of the plant $16.6 million — the thirdhighest total imposed for a single incident in the U.S. — after finding 371 safety and workplace violations. But the companies reached agreements with the federal government to eliminate up to 88 percent of their fines, The Hartford Courant reported.