Subcontractor in deadly Pittsburgh-area well blast paid OSHA fines in 2 other well fires

Subcontractor in deadly Pa. well blast had fines

CHESWICK, Pa. — Federal records show the employer of two men killed in an oil and gas well explosion last week had paid nearly $10,000 in fines for two other well fires in western Pennsylvania.

Officials at subcontractor Northeast Energy Management Inc. did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. OSHA says the drilling company that owned the well has a clean record.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Northeast Energy $5,965 for a drilling rig fire that burned a worker in September 2007. The company paid a $4,000 fine for a drilling rig fire in Charleroi in November 2008.

OSHA and other investigators have yet to determine the cause of Friday’s explosion in Indiana Township.