The Occupational Safety and Hazard Association announced earlier this month that they are unable to ban the unsafe pipe cleaning procedure using flammable natural gas that led to the February construction power plant blast at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middleton, Connecticut.  OSHA officials say they will send a letter of warning to the power industry concerning the practice, but currently they do not have enough information on the subject to completely ban it.  David Michaels, an OSHA administrator, stated, “We would love to be able to ban it, but we can’t”.

The announcement comes just after another announcement of proposed fines of $16.6 million to the contractors and construction companies working for Kleen Engery Systems.  The plant was attempting to clear debris from a supply pipe using flammable natural gas when the explosion occurred, leaving six dead and fifty injured.