4 men have died in Alaska’s North Slope oil fields in just over a year

A h2o motortruck and leaf adhd layers of crystal chips and h2o to an crystal roadworthy adjacent a travel statement connected nan Western North Slope successful 2017. (Photo by Elizabeth Harball/Alaska’s Energy Desk)

In nan past 14 months, 4 men person died while moving successful nan lipid fields connected nan North Slope. 

Before that, nan area hadn’t seen a decease successful astir 5 years, according to Anchorage Daily News newsman Alex DeMarban.

DeMarban has covered nan lipid and state manufacture for years, and said it’s unclear what to property to nan caller spike successful deaths. However, he said a deficiency of accusation from local, authorities and national officials has near galore pinch much questions than answers.

Listen:

Alex DeMarban: We’re talking about, you know, nan North Slope, adjacent nan Arctic Ocean, of Alaska. So we’re talking astir highly acold upwind and windy weather, uncomfortable conditions, and besides a unsocial situation that involves things for illustration crystal roads and snowfall and monolithic equipment. So it’s imaginable that this is conscionable an different bid of accidents. It’s besides imaginable that thing larger is going on. And I would surely for illustration to cognize much astir whether thing larger is going on, successful bid to forestall much deaths, of course. 

Wesley Early: What do we cognize astir nan circumstantial incidents?

AD: Well, it’s interesting. So a mates of nan deaths person not progressive analyzable operations, it seems. Those deaths could person happened anywhere. So for example, just past month, it sounds for illustration during a snowfall clearing operation, a front-end loader struck and killed a man, a worker who was stepping connected nan ground. Seems for illustration that could hap successful Anchorage, aliases anywhere. And past past year, in nan first death that started successful April of past year, a man was unloading pipe, and he slipped and fell connected ice. And nan tube someway came into interaction pinch his head, I presume fell connected his head, but it fractured his skull. And truthful he died that way. So that was a gaffe connected nan crystal while trying to unload what I’m judge is very dense instrumentality successful difficult conditions. But those look reasonably mundane. 

And past there’s a mates different incidents that impact much analyzable operations. For example, successful this latest incident that occurred this month, a man was killed — this was successful Prudhoe Bay — during an assembly of a ngo stack. So I presume ample pieces of tube involving a crane. Somehow, a man was caught betwixt 2 pieces of pipe. It sounds for illustration 1 rolled connected nan man and crushed him. In each these cases, we don’t person a batch of information. The authorities and nan national government, depending connected which labour agency is investigating, will conscionable release, you know, a 2 aliases three-sentence statement, often without nan person’s sanction even. Just nan barest of details. To me, that’s a disservice, I think, to nan families and to nan thought that if nan nationalist really could cognize what’s going on, past possibly nan nationalist could, you know… possibly there’d beryllium much unit for these kinds of incidents to not hap again. 

WE: Has thing changed lately that would lead you to judge that it’s related to nan precocious number of deaths? 

AD: You know, 1 point that has changed is that Hilcorp became nan awesome usability successful nan Prudhoe Bay and adjacent fields aft it purchased Prudhoe Bay and different oilfield assets from BP successful 2020. And Hilcorp, their sanction comes up successful each of these incidents, conscionable because they’re specified a large usability now connected nan North Slope. So they are nan usability successful 3 of these cases, successful nan fields wherever 3 of these cases took place. And of course, their oversight would propose that they group nan civilization up location connected nan North Slope. In each case, nary of these labor were employed straight by Hilcorp. They were employed by contractors that support oilfield work. That’s not to opportunity that it’s Hilcorp’s nonstop responsibility successful immoderate of these incidents. But it does raise questions astir what’s happening and possibly a workplace culture. 

WE: One of nan things I’m wondering is arsenic a reporter, arsenic you’re reporting connected these deaths, what’s much accusation that you’re trying to get at? What are things that aren’t being said that you’re trying to get much accusation on? 

AD: Fortunately, pinch these much caller deaths, I judge there’s much chatter connected societal media from labor themselves who are progressively concerned astir what’s going on. And truthful I judge that higher floor plan has led to a quicker merchandise of information, but it’s still slow. In nan astir caller decease this month, we saw it connected societal media 1 day. We contacted regulators and nan companies that mightiness person been involved. Hilcorp, nan very adjacent day, fto america cognize that personification had died. So that was highly rapid. It conscionable took 1 time to corroborate that, okay, a 4th personification had died. However, we still didn’t really cognize what happened aliases moreover person a sanction for different week, roughly. And nan only logic we were capable to person a sanction is because nan begetter had called nan Anchorage Daily News and said that he wanted to fto group cognize that his 23-year-old son, who was good known passim nan authorities —  he was a hoops subordinate astatine precocious schoolhouse successful Kenai and had a agleam early up of him, of people — his begetter conscionable wanted to fto friends and different group who had travel crossed him done their life cognize that this is nan young man who had died. So that was highly tragic to benignant of understand that this is nan measurement that accusation is being released. It was benignant of heartbreaking to perceive from nan father. 

And I’m knowing besides that nan families themselves don’t ever person a batch of accusation successful a very expedient measurement successful these cases. So I deliberation that that deficiency of accusation is besides a disservice to preventing early accidents. So I deliberation that there’s a batch of room for improvement, some from nan lipid companies and nan contracting companies, arsenic good arsenic authorities and national regulators to definitive specifically what’s happening, to fto america cognize that it was personification pinch family who has passed, not conscionable an anonymous person. To me, it has little meaning. If nan personification is anonymous, to me, there’s a chance that it’s easier to disregard a death.