The family of a Sidney man who was found dead near the oil storage tank he was inspecting near Keene, N.D., has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Billings, blaming the death of Blaine Otto on the negligence of the company that owned the oil well. The same attorney who filed that suit represented Dustin Bergsing, a 21-year-old oilfield worker from Edgar, Mont., who died under similar circumstances, and whose family reached a confidential settlement with Marathon Oil in 2013. The terms of that settlement were not disclosed, but a pretrial statement said a computation of damages put the value of the case “in the seven-figure range.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Blaine Otto
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Oil tank deaths raise serious questions
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Since 2010, four Montana natives have died under similar circumstances in the Bakken oil fields. All were found unconscious or already dead on steel catwalks above tanks of crude oil whose levels they were checking. Trent Vigus, 30, of Glendive, originally of Butte, died at an XTO Energy well site near Lambert, Mont., on July 2, 2010. Dustin Bergsing, 21, of Edgar, originally of Livingston, died at a Marathon oil well near Mandaree, N.D., on Jan. 8, 2012. Continue Reading →