Disposable workers of the oil and gas fields: if you do not have a college degree, it is the best job in the West--unless you die ... unnoticed.

• Author: Ring, Ray
• Position: National Affairs

JOSHUA DUANE RIEDEL, a 23-year-old college student, grew up in Worland, Wyo., and, through hard work more than talent, became a star at Worland High School. In 1999, the statewide Casper Star-Tribune named him one of Wyoming's top 25 high school football players. His dream was to become an airline pilot, attending Rocky Mountain College Aviation School in Billings, Mont. Then, because his family no longer could afford the cost of tuition, he transferred to the University of Wyoming. Shaking off disappointment, he went to Florida and earned college credits while working as a lifeguard at Disney World, but he came back to Worland for one more summer to build up his savings to finish college.

He got a job on a natural-gas drilling rig near Pinedale, Wyo. On a night shift, his crew was adding sections of drilling pipe to go deeper in the hole. The driller accidentally engaged the "breakout tongs," 500-pound jaws for grabbing pipes. Some of the crew said they heard "a loud bang" and a scream as the tongs slammed into Riedel, swept him upward, six feet off the rig floor, and pinned him there, against steel. The July 23, 2004, accident killed the hard-working young man. More than 350 people attended the memorial service, overflowing Worland's Grace Lutheran Church.

The state Workers' Safety and Compensation Division, which investigates workplace accidents, found that on the night of the fatal accident, the driller and others in the crew were inexperienced, due to men often quitting the difficult work. Fatigue from 12-hour shifts also was a factor, and a control valve on the driller's panel was installed improperly, which made it easy for the driller to make the mistake with the tongs.

The safety agency--which goes by the nickname, Wyoming OSHA, mimicking the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration--negotiated with the drilling company, Nabors Industries Ltd., over corrective actions, then fined the company $625. Outraged, Riedel's parents went to the Worland newspaper, and the Associated Press picked up the story. Wyoming OSHA raised the fine to $1,875.

The penalty probably was not noticeable at Nabors. It is the world's largest drilling company, operating more than 600 rigs around the world and earning over $1,400,000,000 in 2006. The Riedels say the company gave them $6,000 to help pay for Josh's funeral--and that is all. "[Nabors] should've shut down that rig and replaced that valve," says Duane Riedel, who has made his career as a math teacher but put in one summer break working in the gas fields. "It's expensive to shut down a rig, but they should've done it."

From Louisiana to Alaska, oil and gas is an industry in a rush, spurred by a worldwide shortage and entranced by high prices and profits. The human impacts of the exploration boom especially are felt in the Interior West, where the summertime total of drilling rigs has soared since 2000, from 204 to 447, according to RigData, a company that keeps track. With that increase in...