NEW BRITAIN ——
Owners of the $1 billion Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, which was ravaged by a Feb. 7 blast that killed six workers and injured several dozen others, plan to open for business April 8, one of the plant's lawyers said Thursday.If the owners meet that date, it will have taken 13 months to rebuild the plant from the day in mid-March that demolition and building permits were obtained.
As expected, the Connecticut Siting Council on Thursday approved Kleen Energy's request to extend its opening date beyond the pre-explosion deadline of November. The deadline is now June 30, 2011, at the latest, but attorney Lee D. Hoffman of Hartford said the owners plan to be ready 11 weeks earlier than that.
The town of Portland, across the Connecticut River from the Kleen Energy site in Middletown, had asked the siting council to take a series of steps before approving the extension. These included ordering an independent engineering study and appraisal of homes in Portland that were damaged by reverberations from the enormous blast; and ordering Kleen Energy to pay for the damage.
But the council said Thursday that it lacked the jurisdiction and authority to take those actions.
Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield had said in a previous interview that the concerns of town residents go beyond property values.
"This is about public safety,'' she said. "In a major catastrophe like this, the red flag goes up. Were they rushing toward completion? Were they more concerned about finances than safety measures?''
Bransfield has said the plant's completion date shouldn't be extended until all of the recommended reforms are implemented, including better safety oversight.
The siting council acknowledged that the explosion had changed the circumstances at the Middletown construction site.
The panel voted to attach to Kleen's request several findings of a state investigatory panel headed by retired U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas, including a ban on using high-pressure natural gas to clean pipes leading to the turbines. It was this dangerous "gas blow" procedure that led to the explosion.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell last month used her executive authority to ban gas blows statewide.
The siting council also said it would consider adding the recommendations of a second state commission, headed by acting Public Safety Commissioner James "Skip'' Thomas, which finished its work last month. The council will hold a public hearing on the Thomas commission findings, which include strengthening oversight of power plants, as well as fire and building codes.
Hoffman said the owners of the plant accept the Nevas conditions and are studying the Thomas findings.
He said no changes have been made to the team that is building the plant. O&G Industries of Torrington remains general contractor and a minority owner. Federal regulators have proposed $16.6 million in fines against O&G and a bevy of other firms that worked on the plant. Over 100 safety violations were cited.
Before the explosion, O&G was on pace to open as early as May — six months ahead of schedule — and stood to make millions of dollars in bonuses.
