By Hannah Vahl, Special to the Register

MIDDLETOWN — The Kleen Energy Systems power plant that was the scene of a deadly explosion Sunday was designed as a 620-megawatt power plant that would generate electricity mostly by using natural gas.

Built on about 25 acres along the Connecticut River, the plant is situated on an old feldspar mine. Construction began in February 2008. Plans were first unveiled for the facility in November 2001, but it took until August 2007 to clear the final hurdle with the state.

The project had critics. Environmentalists said the location would ruin what the Nature Conservancy called one of the last 10 great places, and some councilmen, as well as Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano, felt that the tax agreement negotiated under former Mayor Domenique Thornton’s administration was too generous.

But the revenue brought to the city during the plant’s construction and operation was hailed by many. When the power plant was first proposed in 2002, Middlesex Chamber of Commerce President Larry McHugh said that the plant would bring in taxes and employment, as well as boost electricity generation in the state.

U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigators have done extensive work on the issue of gas line purging since an explosion last year at a Slim Jim factory in North Carolina killed four people.

The board voted last week to recommend that national and international code writers strengthen their guidelines to require outdoor venting of gas lines, or an approved safety plan to do it indoors.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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