Safety officials have imposed $16.6 million in fines against companies involved in the Feb. 7 power plant blast that left six workers dead and 50 others injured in Connecticut.
It is the third largest penalty ever issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, aside from the two it levied against oil giant BP totaling $108 million in 2005 and 2009, The Hartford Courant reports.
“These employers blatantly disregarded well-known and accepted industry procedures and their own safety guidelines in conducting the gas blow operation in a manner that exposed workers to fire and explosion hazards,” said OSHA chief David Michaels in a statement.
The blast, which could be heard more than 40 miles away from the plant construction site in Middletown, occurred as workers were forcing highly-pressurized gas through pipes to clean them of debris. The natural gas accumulated and ignited, possibly because workers were welding nearby, OSHA said, though the exact source of the fire remains unknown.
OSHA levied the biggest fines on three companies–Keystone Construction and Maintenance Services, O&G Industries and Bluewater Energy Services — for performing the procedure in ways that endangered workers, such as crowding the area with employees. The workers also never received training for the gas blow process, Michaels said.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigated the blast with OSHA and local police officials, recommended in June that OSHA ban the gas blow procedure.
