
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 19, 1993                   TAG: 9308190246
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHLANDS                                LENGTH: Medium

PANEL TOLD TRAINING NEEDED

Virginia must spend more money to train miners and inspect mines to prevent accidents like the one in Wise County that killed eight men last year, speakers told a legislative panel.

The subcommittee, which is considering an overhaul of the state's 27-year-old mining act, held public hearings Tuesday and Wednesday in the coalfields.

"The information received over and over again today is we need more training," said Del. Alson Smith, D-Winchester, subcommittee chairman.

Sen. William Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, asked the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to project the cost of additional training. The General Assembly will adopt a two-year budget in 1994.

Members of the United Mine Workers union cautioned against paying for increased training programs by reducing state inspections and enforcement, a responsibility shared with the federal government.

The 13-member subcommittee, which includes citizens and a UMW representative, began a comprehensive review of Virginia's mining laws in June. The study was prompted by the Southmountain Coal Co. explosion in December.

Investigators concluded that methane gas built up to combustible levels because operators failed to properly ventilate the mine. A miner carrying cigarettes ignited the explosion with a lighter. The blast was intensified by the miners' failure to adequately apply rock dust to the surfaces of the mine.

Danny Sparks, a miner and UMW member, asked the committee, "If we had enough state inspections being conducted, why did we have a J&T [Coal Co.] roof fall and why did we have a Southmountain explosion?" The roof fall in St. Charles killed four miners in February 1992.

Elizabeth Mullins, widow of miner Mike Mullins, told the committee that her husband "knew there was gas in the mine and the mine wasn't being rock dusted. He knew they weren't hanging ventilation curtains."

But Mullins said her husband was unaware of his federal safety rights to refuse to work in unsafe conditions. "There simply is no excuse for the commonwealth of Virginia not to train its miners about its rights and do whatever is necessary to protect them," she said.

Mullins urged the committee to require that miners be trained in their safety rights and protected from retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB