Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993 TAG: 9309170256
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RUIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RIPPLEMEAD LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, meanwhile, has notified the APG Lime Corp. that it is in violation of state mining regulations relating to mine roof support.
The notice of violation parallels a federal citation issued earlier this week.
The state is giving the corporation until Oct. 15 to come up with a plan to improve the mine's roof support or risk a closure order, said department spokesman Mike Abbott.
Unlike the federal citation, state law does not allow the department to impose civil fines.
The APG Lime Corp. Kimballton mine beside Stony Creek and below Butt Mountain has been closed since the Sept. 9 accident that killed Brian Keith Ratcliffe, 28, of Pearisburg and Timothy Wayne Francis, 41, of Peterstown, W.Va.
About 26 of their fellow miners, who have not been paid during the shutdown, are scheduled to file for unemployment compensation today, with the exception of six members of the underground maintenance crew, said Don Cumbee, APG Lime's general accounting manager.
The maintenance crew members will work on the mine's drills and other equipment and also prepare an older drill to replace the twin-boom jumbo drill destroyed in the accident, Cumbee said.
The mine shutdown so far has not affected the other part of the Kimballton plant, where the limestone is converted into lime. That processing plant employs approximately 58 hourly employees.
"We have a stockpile, above ground, and that's what we've been working off of," Cumbee said.
While he would not, for competitive reasons, discuss how long the stockpile would last, he said it is "not something we're going to run out of in the next few days."
There is a rival limestone operation just a short distance away.
Meanwhile, an assessment team sent by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration continued its work Thursday at the mine.
The team is trying to determine first, the cause of the rock fall, and second, if any federal mine safety and health laws have been violated.
On Sunday, the MHSA cited the mine for not having a roof support system in place. No fine has been assessed.
The out-of-work miners are covered by a two-year contract signed this week between the United Mine Workers and the APG Lime Corp.
by CNB