Drone Photo
The factory, after the explosion.
Emergency crews were on the scene mid-day Thursday of an explosion at a chemical plant off State Street near the Hamden border in the Cedar Hill neighborhood.
The explosion was reported at around 11:30 a.m. at the former H. Krevit & Co., now known as Chlor-Alkali, at 73 Welton St.
It was originally reported as a hydrogen gas explosion. Then it turned out the explosion stemmed from a natural gas leak in a pipe connected to a heating unit inside the plant had exploded, officials said. Then, later Thursday, officials backtracked again. Now they’re saying they don’t know exactly what happened yet. Representatives of the state fire marshal’s office and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection arrived to help find answers.
The explosion ripped out a back wall. It blew debris onto the Amtrak train tracks, temporarily stopped service to Hartford until crews cleared the wau.
The Chlor-Alkali building was evacuated, and everyone got out safely, according to Fire Chief John Alston Jr.
The explosion also ruptured a container that had sodium bisulfate in it, Alston said. The fire department’s hazmat crew entered the building and determined that the chemical was confined to a pit around a storage container.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency cited the company in 2011 for failing to have a risk management or spill management plan in violation of the Clear Air Act. The company had to pay a $12,626 penalty and buy $36,056 of emergency response equipment for the fire department.so it could deal with chemical emergencies — like the one on Thursday.