FARGO (KFGO) – Federal prosecutors are accusing a man of obstructing an investigation into a fatal workplace accident in the North Dakota Oil Patch.
Stephan Reisinger was a maintenance manager for Nabors Completion and Production Services. A federal grand jury has indicted Reisinger for felony obstruction of an OSHA proceeding.
Court documents say Reisinger made false statements to an OSHA investigator in connection with the death of 29-year-old Dustin Payne of Hazel Green, Ala. Payne died in 2014, five days after he was severely injured while welding inside a water hauling tank that had not been properly cleaned and vented.
Reisinger is also accused of concealing work orders that were prepared after the work was completed.
In a separate but related case, the company, now named C&J Energy Services, reached a plea deal and agreed to pay $1.6 million to Payne’s estate, plus a $500,000 fine.
