Mediation set for Middletown explosion lawsuits

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - Lawyers and a Connecticut judge will be meeting later this month to try to settle at least 20 lawsuits filed by victims of a Middletown power plant explosion that killed six workers and injured nearly 50 others.

The first mediation session is set to begin July 18 at Middletown Superior Court. Victims are suing the plant's operator, Kleen Energy Systems, and several contractors that were working on plant, which was under construction when it exploded on Feb. 7, 2010.

Investigators say something ignited 400,000 cubic feet of gas and air that had accumulated during a gas blow, in which high-pressure natural gas is pushed through pipes to clear debris.

The state legislature this month approved a law banning the use of flammable gas to clean piping at power plants.