Contractor Charged in North Canaan Propane Leak

Streets were shut down and homes and businesses were evacuated in North Canaan on Saturday and now there has been an arrest.

Liquid propane started leaking from a 30,000-gallon tank at Specialty Minerals around 7 a.m.

Firefighters were able to isolate the leak and close it off, but were also concerned that the vapor cloud from the propane could ignite a fire.

Investigators said there were issues with the installation of the propane gas lines from the tank into the building.

Inspectors said the piping work was done by a non-licensed contractor and was not done to code.

The contractor, Michael Puta of Massachusetts, was charged with reckless endangerment, violating the state's propane gas piping code and failing to hold a contractor's license for gas piping installations.

Contact Us