Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994 TAG: 9401150157
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The company, in a statement issued Friday, also suggested that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was trying to cover up its own responsibility. A high-ranking federal mine-safety official took strong exception to that charge.
The company said it was "shocked and dismayed" by a news release distributed about the indictments Thursday by the U.S. attorney's office in Roanoke and by Edward Hugler, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
"After more than one year of Southmountain's continuous cooperation with federal investigators, the government did not even provide Southmountain with the simple courtesy of a copy of the indictment, or a phone call before slandering the company and individuals in the press," the company said.
The statement noted repeated inspections of the mine by government inspectors in the weeks and months preceding the explosion. "They found the mine to be safe and in compliance with the law," the company said.
Southmountain complained that it has been denied a chance to defend itself against civil citations issued by the mine safety agency.
In August, the mine agency assessed civil penalties totaling $439,172 against Southmountain and company consultant Ridley Elkins, of which $400,000 was for safety violations the agency said directly contributed to the explosion.
Jack Kennedy, a company lawyer, said Southmountain filed an appeal to those penalties May 26 but that a hearing has been repeatedly postponed at the agency's request.
The company also said it has been denied an opportunity to question inspectors in depositions and has been denied access to the results of the agency's own internal investigation related to the explosion, which it requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
An appeal of the denial of the request has been filed, Kennedy said.
The company suggested that the government is "striking out against Southmountain to cover up and divert attention away from the internal investigation of MSHA personnel."
But Marvin Nichols, administrator for coal mine safety and health, said the agency was not trying to cover up anything. "We're trying to pursue willful and knowing violations of the mine act as we have on other occasions," he said.
The agency prosecuted criminal charges against 75 companies and individuals last year.
Nichols said his agency has not completed its internal investigation related to the Southmountain explosion. When the report is complete, it will be made public, he said.
Southmountain said Friday that it was not proved that the disaster was caused by smoking in the mine.
But state and federal investigations concluded that the blast was caused by violations of mine safety laws that led to a buildup of explosive methane gas and coal dust that was set off by a cigarette lighter illegally brought into the mine by one of the victims.
Southmountain was indicted Thursday on 11 misdemeanor charges alleging a failure to properly conduct safety examinations that would have detected a buildup of methane.
The indictment also charged that the company failed to operate the mine safely, including a failure to follow a ventilation plan that would have prevented a gas buildup; a failure to suppress explosive coal dust; and a failure to ensure that miners did not carry lighters, matches or other smoking material into the mine.
The grand jury also indicted the company on six felony counts of falsifying record books, which investigators said covered up a failure to conduct safety examinations and misrepresented the amounts of methane found in the mine before the explosion.
Also named in the indictment by a federal grand jury in Abingdon were company supervisors Freddie Carl Deatherage, 42, of Jenkins, Ky., on six misdemeanor and four felony counts, and Kenneth Ray Brooks, 57, of Clintwood on three misdemeanor counts and one felony count.
Deatherage, who was the mine superintendent, faces the possibility of 26 years in prison and $2.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges. Brooks, who was the evening shift foreman, faces eight years and $1 million in fines.
The company, which has no active mining operations in Virginia now, faces $8.5 million in fines.
U.S. Attorney Crouch said more indictments could result from the continuing investigation.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.