3 Deaths Blamed on Subcontractor

The deaths of three young workers in a defunct oil well north of Ventura stemmed not from natural pressures in the earth but from a subcontractor’s faulty safety procedures, an attorney for the company that leased the wells argued Thursday.

The three were killed and three others injured in a hot, dusty oil field at Seacliff four years ago. The cause of the accident is at the heart of a civil case heard by Ventura Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane.

The lethal gas leak occurred at Vintage Petroleum’s oil production plant in the foothills of Rincon Mountain in Seacliff. The men were in the process of turning the 70-year-old well into a solid-waste disposal well. As they drilled into the walls of the well more than 2,000 feet down, a burst of gas caused water in the drainage pipe to reverse and shoot back up, carrying with it noxious fumes. The three men were overcome by the gases and suffered cardiac arrest almost immediately.

Attorneys for the the victims’ families have argued that a hidden air pocket caused the explosion. They contend that Vintage Petroleum should have foreseen the danger and is therefore responsible for the deaths of Ronald Johnson, Sean Harris and Jason Hoskins.

But in court Thursday, defense attorney Bruce Finck argued that the explosion was caused by faulty safety equipment provided by subcontractor Schlumberger Wireline and Testing. No research since the accident has indicated a hidden air pocket, he said.

“There are no faults, no traps, no structures that would control or encapsulate the hypothetical pressure,” Finck said, pointing to a model of the layers of earth at the oil field on the Rincon.

Instead, he argued, the accident occurred because Schlumberger failed to do sufficient analysis of possible hazards before workers began detonating holes in the well wall.

That failure was at the root of this “cascade of tragic events,” Finck said. If Vintage is found liable in this phase of the trial, a damage phase will begin next week. Victims and their families are seeking more than $10 million in damages.