911 calls came pouring in from all around the state Sunday morning when an explosion rocked the Kleen Energy Plant in Middletown. The blast, which killed five and injured dozens remains under investigation.
“We’re going to want to have answers as quickly as we can,” stated Connecticut State Representative Matthew Lesser, “I have spoken to Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, Congresswoman Rosa Delauro, and the office of Senator Dodd.” Lesser, who was in Middletown at the time of the explosion, took immediate action after receiving confirmation that the explosion had occurred at the Kleen Energy power plant. “I’m anxious,” he added, “I’ve certainly been in touch in the last couple of days with the state police and the federal agencies conducting the investigation.”
The explosion, which occurred shortly after 11A.M sent shock waves as far as towns 15 miles away. Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who received news of the blast from his blackberry, became involved in the rescue efforts right away. “At first it was response,” he stated, “All fire units were called.” The South District Fire Department was the first to respond calling on mutual aid from surrounding towns including Durham, Middlefield, and Westfield. Giuliano noted, “the response was spot on, they responded quickly, appropriately, and got the situation under control immediately.”
The investigation into the direct cause of the explosion continues after experiencing several issues during the past few days. The lack in stability in the structure of the site has become an issue for investigators who are working against the clock to find answers. “You’ve got people up there trying to do an investigation, so you don’t want them hurt,” commented Mayor Giuliano, “you don’t want them to become victims too.”
The plant which was about 95 percent complete at the time of the explosion and was planned to go ‘online’ this summer will be the source of many questions for days and weeks to come. “We’ll look at lessons to learn from this,” commented Representative Lesser, who added, “we’ll find out what happened, and really take steps to make sure that this kind of really horrific disaster never happens again.”