Although federal investigators are unsure of what caused Sunday’s deadly explosion at a powerplant under construction in central Connecticut, local officials are saying the accident occurred during gas line purging, or blow-down operations, in preparation for the facility’s scheduled opening this summer.
The accident occurred just three days after the U.S. Chemical Safety Board approved recommendations on gas purging, the result of a months-long investigation into a similar explosion at a ConAgra Slim Jim production facility in North Carolina.