Hartford, CT – Nine Connecticut propane dealers have been ordered to stop selling their product after the propane they received from a Massachusetts facility was determined to be defective.
The local companies failed a field test conducted after a July 31, fatal explosion at a Norfolk, Mass. construction site.
An investigation into an electrician’s death showed that the leaking propane appliance that caused the explosion was being fed by a propane tank that had no or little odorant. Odorant is a smelly substance added to toxic, odorless gases to warn of its presence.
The office of the state fire marshal learned of the propane problem Thursday and, with the state Department of Environmental Protection, inspected 20 distribution depots in Connecticut that had received propane from the same bulk storage facility in Westfield, Mass. that had distributed the product involved in the explosion. Eleven passed.
The nine that failed were issued a cease and desist order, according to a press release Friday from the state Department of Public Safety.
The companies have to do four things: Warn consumers that they have a defective product, add odorant to the product waiting to be delivered, have a third party do another inspection and provide documentation that they passed the inspection, the agency said.
The local companies are: The Daniels Propane Co., Cromwell; Beemers Propane, Glastonbury; All Gas Propane, Bloomfield and Suburban Propane, Derby.
Also, Amerigas in Colchester, Hampton and Bridgeport; Hocon Gas in Torrington and Superior Propane in Ellington.