Slim Jim plant blast leads to NC gas code changes

RALEIGH — Three months after an explosion at a Slim Jim factory in North Carolina killed three people, a state panel has made emergency changes to its gas guidelines despite federal inaction on the standards.

The North Carolina Building Code Council voted Tuesday to require workers who are purging indoor gas lines to vent the pipes outside. If that is not possible, they must evacuate those not directly working on the lines.

The decision came one day after The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board had voted against recommending similar changes to state, national and international codes.

A June explosion at a ConAgra Foods Inc. facility in Garner killed three workers and sent dozens of others to the hospital.