Scientists have concluded that combustion of built-up hydrogen gas in beach sand from an abandoned copper cable caused the explosion at the Salty Brine beach in Rhode Island on July 11.
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Coit said scientists took 10 samples to test the beach for hydrogen on Friday and didn’t detect any.
When asked about the cause earlier this week, Coit said scientists have “narrowed it down”, but she did not give details.
Kathleen Danise, 60, of Waterbury, Connecticut, suffered two fractured ribs and bruises in the blast.
Authorities investigate a mysterious explosion that threw a beachgoer into a nearby jetty at Salty Brine beach in Narragansett, R.I., on Saturday, July 11, 2015.
In the days after the blast, officials quickly ruled out any explosive devices, malicious activity or geological event.
“All you need is hydrogen and oxygen in the right mixture and it can combust”, he said.
“Having the talent and research expertise of the teams at URI to turn to for quick results has proven invaluable”.
Since the explosion, the DEM has removed the cable and made sure the beach is safe, according to the statement. I also want to thank the public for their cooperation and patience as we worked to reach this conclusion. “There was coordination and collaboration around the investigation from Colonel Steve O’Donnell and the RI State Police, the State Fire Marshal, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service soil scientist Jim Turenne, and other state and federal government officials”.
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It is also unlikely to happen anywhere else as Salty Brine State Beach, which is within the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge and overlooks the joining of the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Bay’s west passage, is the only place that has an abandoned Coast Guard cable. “No other combustion incident has ever occurred at any other state beach”.
