Federal investigator says contractor’s workers could be compromising site of Conn. explosion

Official: Workers may compromise Conn. blast probe

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A federal investigator says employees of the main contractor at a Connecticut power plant that exploded have had unfettered access to the site and could compromise probes into the deadly blast.

Don Holmstrom, the lead investigator for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, says he’s concerned that employees of O&G Industries could unintentionally alter the scene at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown. O&G declined to comment.

Holmstrom says evidence, including a camera and a combustible gas detector, has been removed.

The chemical board’s investigators are at odds with state and local authorities over being denied access to the site. The agency is weighing whether to use its legal authority.

Five people died and a dozen were wounded in the explosion Sunday.