[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 22 (Friday, February 11, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF THE KLEEN ENERGY SYSTEMS EXPLOSION

  (Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, this past Monday marked the 
1-year anniversary of the disaster at the Kleen Energy Systems power 
plant in Middletown, Connecticut. That blast claimed six lives and 
injured dozens of others last February. It could have been prevented. 
Unsafe pipe cleaning procedures and poor ventilation helped ignite a 
basketball arena's worth of natural gas in an explosion that could be 
heard across a 30-mile radius in central Connecticut.
  One of the six plant construction workers who lost their lives that 
day hailed from Thomaston, Connecticut, in my district, Peter Chepulis. 
And as we look back at the terrible events of February 7 last year, 
it's up to us to honor Peter's memory and those who died alongside him 
by ensuring that disasters like this never happen again. The cost of 
powering our homes and businesses should never be measured in lives. 
Industry and government alike failed Peter that cold winter morning, 
and we have much work ahead of us to right that wrong. While those who 
lost loved ones in Middletown a year ago will never be made whole 
again, we owe them our diligence and our best work to make sure that it 
never happens again.

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