ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995                   TAG: 9507190050
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIG STONE GAP                                LENGTH: Short

STATE ASKS MINERS TO WATCH DRAINS

The blowout at a water-filled mine that flooded a mountainside and drowned a woman in her house was caused by a collapse of shale below a pipe used to relieve water pressure, a state report has concluded.

The Department of Mines has sent a memorandum to all Virginia coal mine operators outlining the accident and asking them to identify active and abandoned mines where impounded water could be released, spokesman Mike Abbott said.

``We're asking them to pay particular attention to [rock] outcrop areas below the drainage,'' he said Tuesday, and state inspectors are reviewing mining operations that have impounded water.

Tammie Givens, 25, was killed when water burst from a Buchanan County mine, rushed down a hollow and flowed into her house about 4 a.m. May 13. The house was 200 feet below the mine.

The water damaged the house's foundation, and the floor collapsed while the house was being evacuated. Givens was trapped in the home and drowned.

The state fined Dominion Coal Co. $1,215 for allowing an ``unauthorized discharge'' of water at the mine. It also ordered the company to fix the discharge system and make sure the water flowing from the mine opening is clean.

It's not unusual for mined areas to fill with water, Abbott said. The opening of the Dominion Coal mine was sealed and the plug of coal left at the end of the mined coal seam was fitted with a pipe, nearly 2 feet in diameter. The pipe allowed water to flow down the mountain rather than build up inside.

Keywords:
FATALITY 


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