Connecticut bans using flammable gases to clean fuel gas piping

Published: 07 September, 2011

Action taken following the results of the investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board into the tragedy at Kleen Energy.

According to CSB Board Member William Wark the Connecticut legislation sets an example for the rest of the country and the Board has called on all other states to follow suit. ‘The tragedy at Kleen Energy was preventable, and that’s why the CSB earlier made a formal recommendation to the state of Connecticut to ban the practice. The CSB concluded that using gas blows to clean piping is inherently unsafe, and should no longer be permitted in the construction of power plants.’

The CSB has made a recommendation to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a standard on fuel gas safety and to the states and localities, and voluntary consensus standards organizations to amend their codes to prohibit what it terms an ‘unsafe practice’.

The National Fire Protection Association has recently approved a new gas process safety standard, NFPA 56, Standard for Fire and Explosion Prevention During Cleaning and Purging of Flammable Gas Piping Systems. This voluntary standard also prohibits the practice of using flammable gas to clean piping.

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