Garner, N.C.-ATF investigators have concluded that a natural gas leak that was accidentally ignited was the cause of the explosion that rocked the ConAgra Slim Jim plant here (GM June 15, p. 10). “It has been ruled a natural gas explosion with ignition from an unknown source, although there were several possible identified sources in the room,” Garner Police Dept. spokesman Chris Clayton told Green Markets. Clayton said he didn’t think anhydrous ammonia, used in the plant for refrigeration, was ever seriously considered as a source of the explosion. “I think in the beginning everything was considered and investigators went to work with all possibilities on the table, but soon narrowed it down to the natural gas. The ammonia release was a result of the explosion.” The explosion killed three employees and injured more than 40 others.
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