ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993                   TAG: 9307220064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE BELT SUED IN DEATHS OF 3 WORKERS

Prosecutors are suing a Roanoke company for at least $600,000 for violations of health and safety standards that allegedly led to the deaths of three workers.

The suit filed in Circuit Court seeks fines against Roanoke Belt Inc., and said the company failed to provide adequate training and equipment for its workers.

A March 1993 state Department of Labor and Industry report accused the company of 17 safety violations, but also said that the workers themselves had not taken all available precautions.

Stephen Lynn Miller, Frank Wayne Johnson and Martin Matthew Mroczkowski died Sept. 24 after inhaling toxic toluene fumes from an open can of Endurabond No. 3, a chemical adhesive they were using to repair an 18,000-gallon storage tank at the Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant.

None of the three was wearing a respirator for protection from the fumes.

Roanoke Belt President Roger Wickman said he may liquidate the business because he cannot afford to pay the fines.

"This has taken every dime of extra money I have," Wickman said. "It's eating up the profits quicker than we can make them."

Keywords:
FATALITY 


 by CNB