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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994                   TAG: 9405250042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

6 VA. MINES CITED FOR SMOKING VIOLATIONS

The U.S. Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued citations for smoking violations against six Virginia mines, including one where smoking materials were discovered.

"Any type of smoking in mines is unacceptable and should not be tolerated," said J. Davitt McAteer, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.

MSHA last week cited a total of 32 underground coal mines in five states for smoking violations, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

In Virginia, the smoking materials were found at Calico Coal Inc. Mine No. 6 in Whitewood, MSHA said.

Five other mines in Wise, Lee and Buchanan counties were cited for having an inadequate smoking prevention program.

They are: Fanstaff Inc. No. 1 Mine in Pound; Cola Coal Co. No. 2 Mine in Keokee; Country Boy Mining No. 1 Mine in Rowe; Ceda Coal Inc. No. 1 Mine in Hurley; and the Triple E Coal Corp. Mine No. 8 in Big Rock.

Civil fines for the smoking violations carry a maximum $50,000 penalty for each violation for mine operators and $250 for each violation by an individual miner.

MSHA teams inspected 175 mines in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

Thirty mines in Virginia were inspected.

by CNB