Man Found Unconscious at North Slope Drilling Site Dies

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—

A man died after he was found unconscious Sunday at the foot of a North Slope drilling site stairwell, according to company officials and North Slope Borough police.

Pat Foley with Pioneer Natural Resources says the unidentified man, a Nabors Drilling employee contracted by Pioneer, was found at about noon Sunday. Foley says the incident -- which didn’t appear to be a work-related accident -- occurred at Pioneer’s Oooguruk drill site, on a six-acre island in the Beaufort Sea.

Richard Holschen, the North Slope Borough’s on-duty police officer at Prudhoe Bay, told Channel 2 Monday that a person had died on the Slope Sunday. He said the man had not been killed, but didn’t immediately provide further details.

Pioneer spokesperson Casey Sullivan said the man’s body was taken to Deadhorse Monday, en route to the state medical examiner’s office.

The drill site was immediately placed into a stand-down mode Sunday, which it remained in Monday.

Both the North Slope Borough and OSHA were notified of the incident Sunday, and Sullivan says the company is working closely with Nabors. Chaplains are providing grief counseling to affected employees.

Email Ed Bennett and Jordana Anderson