Judge Raymond Brassard didn't approve a motion filed by Heath and Tara Carey, the parents of the two little girls who died, to give them full access to evidence and testing, but he didn't deny it.

Brassard instead suggested the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy, or DTE, talk with Carey family representatives and provide them with the documents and evidence they want.

"I think you ought to have a very fair and honest discussion with each other where everyone is essentially equal," he said.

Brassard's informal decision also kick-starts testing DTE suspended last week. Experts at Massachusetts Materials Research Inc. in West Boylston today are scheduled to continue testing pipes and meters pulled from the Main Street apartment building. Eight more days of testing remain, said John Johnson, NStar's attorney.

Heath and Tara Carey lost their two daughters, ages 4 and 5 1/2, in an apparent natural gas explosion on July 24. The girls, Iris and Violet, were asleep in their Hopkinton apartment when it blew up. The Careys were not in the courtroom.

John Wozniak, the Careys' Mendon attorney, said he is delighted with the judge's recommendations.

"I think that we got what we were looking for," he said. "I hope this means our participation will be meaningful and we can conclude (the investigation) as quickly as possible."

DTE attorney Susan Paulson argued that Wozniak and the Carey family have had access to testing and the videotapes of the testing since it began. She also denied Wozniak's claims that the Carey family has been kept out of discussions and denied documents.

Brassard didn't give all of the parties direct instruction on how to behave, but he made it clear he wanted the DTE to immediately hand over documents to the Carey family.

Brassard told the DTE to make copies of drawings and plans for a pipe fitting taken from the Hopkinton home that has yet to be tested. He also asked the DTE to let the Careys' experts examine the fitting, which is a piece that connects the indoor and outdoor gas lines, before tests are performed.

"This is not something you can play close to your chest," Brassard told the DTE. "This is information they should have available to them."

Brassard also advised the DTE to sit down with the Carey family and NStar to find a test for the fitting they can all agree on. The fitting, found rusted and broken, has become a key piece of evidence and may be to blame for the explosion.

NStar and the Carey family don't want experts to glue together and pressure test the fitting because they are afraid it will be destroyed.

"We didn't think the testing will be reliable because the conditions as they were on the day of the accident couldn't be replicated," said Johnson, NStar's attorney. "And we also felt that the test might end up spoiling the evidence."

The DTE's Paulson argued no one has come up with an alternative test. A test is necessary, she said, to find out when and why the fitting broke, and if the fitting is to blame for the blast.