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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 7, 1993                   TAG: 9310070125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

2 MINERS ARRESTED ON ANTI-SMOKING LAW

Harold C. Davis of Jonesville and Darrell Burgan of Clove Splint, Ky., were the first miners arrested since March, when a new state law made it a felony to carry smoking materials inside a Virginia mine, said Mike Abbott, a spokesman for the state Division of Mines in Big Stone Gap.

State and federal safety officials concluded that a spark from a cigarette lighter triggered an explosion at a Wise County mine in December that killed eight men. That disaster prompted the General Assembly to enact the new law.

Monday night, acting on a tip, state mine inspectors - accompanied by inspectors of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration - conducted a surprise inspection at Big Fist Coal Co.'s No. 5 mine at St. Charles, Abbott said.

Upon entering the mine, the inspectors smelled cigarette smoke and requested miners who were at work to undergo a search for smoking materials, which was conducted by the mine foreman.

In addition to the arrests, the Division of Mines issued closure orders at the mine for the smoking materials violation and for the failure of mine management to follow the mine's approved roof-control plan. The closure orders were lifted Wednesday.

The federal inspectors also issued citations against the two miners for carrying smoking materials and against mine operator Roger Coleman for not maintaining an adequate search program for smoking materials, Rodney Brown, an MSHA spokesman said. Federal law strictly forbids the carrying of smoking materials inside an underground mine.

The miners face the possibility of a one- to five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $2,500.

NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.