KatMcGrory

Hey there. Thanks for starting us off. No, there hasn't been much backlash. Most of our readers welcomed the in-depth analysis of the accident.

It wasn't obvious at first. It took a few weeks of reporting.

The families were pretty upset to learn about the 1997 accident. The ones we interviewed had no idea something similar had happened in the past, or that the union had raised concerns about that kind of work. The story actually ends with reaction from one family member right after we shared our findings.

We don't really know the extent of his injuries. His family said he was fighting for his life. On an even more sad note, Gary Marine's step-father died in the accident. http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/father-and-step-son-both-severely-injured-in-tampa-electric-co-accident/2329031

One of the first things we learned is that power plants are generally very safe. The procedure that caused the June 29 accident was specific to coal-fired power plants with a certain type of boiler (called a wet-bottom boiler). There aren't that many of them left.