State Fines 2 Oil Companies $94,000 in 3 Ventura Deaths

More than $94,000 in fines have been levied against two oil companies in connection with the deaths of three workers at an oil field north of Ventura in August, state safety officials said Monday.

Pride Petroleum Service Co. and Schlumberger Wireline and Testing were assessed $45,375 and $48,750 respectively by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration--the state’s industrial safety agency--for a total of 15 violations of worker safety regulations.

All the violations were classified as serious and all but three of the fines were for the maximum amount allowed by law, said John Duncan, the agency’s deputy director of communications.

“This was a terrible accident,” Duncan said. “There are very well-defined regulatory procedures to follow during operations like these and clearly they were not followed.”

Mike Furrow, a vice president at Pride Petroleum’s offices in Bakersfield, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Pride is based in Dallas.

Henry Cloud, manager of Schlumberger’s health, safety and environment department, said only that the Louisiana-based company plans to appeal the fines. The companies have 15 days to do so.

On Aug. 10, three Pride Petroleum employees were working on a defunct oil well near Seacliff north of Ventura when they were overcome by toxic gases.

The workers--Ronald Johnson, Jason Hoskins and Sean Harris--died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to toxicology results made public in September by the Ventura County coroner’s office.

Johnson died at the scene, and Hoskins and Harris died a short time later at a Ventura hospital. Johnson and Hoskins lived in Ventura and Harris lived in Oxnard.

Four other workers at the site were injured by breathing the colorless, odorless gas typically found in automobile emissions and other sources of combustion. The four workers since have recovered, officials said.

Duncan said safety investigators still do not know the source of the carbon monoxide or how it got into the well where the workers were trying to shut off a line gushing an oily mix of water and petroleum.