Florida utility gets $500K fine, probation for fatal blast

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida utility has been fined $500,000 and placed on three years’ probation for a 2017 deadly explosion at a coal-fired power plant that killed five workers. The U.S. Justice Department said in a news release Friday that Tampa Electric Co. also must adhere to a new safety compliance plan. The fine is the maximum allowed for such violations. The explosion at TECO’s Big Bend plant near Tampa happened when an effort was made using high-pressure water to clear a slag byproduct that accumulates in tanks under the coal-fired furnaces. The workers died and several more were injured when they were sprayed with molten slag.