HATTER CHARGED AFTER APPARENT DRUG OVERDOSE

The CEO of an energy services firm operating in the Medicine Hat area
is calling on companies to band together in the battle against
substance abuse in the oilpatch following the death of a pipeline
worker from an apparent drug overdose in Oyen.

RCMP have laid three drug trafficking charges against [redacted],
[redacted], of Medicine Hat after a 41-year-old Ledcor employee was
found dead and two others unresponsive Thursday at the company's work
camp near Oyen, about 200 kilomtres north of the Gas City. The two
men, ages 23 and 32, have since been released from hospital.

"Pending results of (an autopsy), we can't say for sure what the
cause of death is, but it's believed to be drug-related," said RCMP
spokesman Cpl. Doug Johnston.

Police suspect alcohol and opium poppy derivatives, commonly found in
a wide range of illegal narcotics and prescription medications, were
involved. RCMP are continuing their investigation and are not
releasing the deceased man's name at the request of his family.

The grim discovery is a wakeup call for an industry in which drug and
alcohol abuse often goes unchecked, Len Torgerson, president and
chief executive of Big Country Energy Services LP, told the News in
an interview Friday.

"I'm not shocked, but it's disappointing that people just aren't
getting it," he said. "The only way you're really going to clean up
the industry is by having these service providers stick together and
have a level playing field with regard to what your (drug testing)
program looks like."

For more than a year, Big Country has been an industry leader in the
gradual shift toward a drug- and alcohol-free oilpatch, implementing
some of the most stringent substance testing standards in the energy
sector. In the past, the company has offered counselling to help
employees kick their habits.

Immediately following the incident Thursday, Ledcor shut down the
pipeline project. A town hall meeting was held in Oyen Friday
morning, where the company reiterated policies against alcohol and
drug abuse to employees working on the pipeline project. Grief
counsellors were also made available. Work at the site resumed
following the meeting.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the people that are affected,
not only the person who perished, but the person who was arrested,"
said Dwight Brissette, Ledcor's vice-president of health, safety and
environmental protection. "We have a comprehensive drug and alcohol
testing program and we take it very seriously. We haven't had
anything like this happen ever before."

The company has terminated the two hospitalized workers, Brissette
said. He and Ledcor's chief executive are flying to Medicine Hat
Tuesday to conduct a review of the entire pipeline project with
employees from the company's safety division.

A company source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the
three men overdosed on a mixture of prescription drugs and alcohol.