MSHA News Release No. 2000-0907
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Contact: Amy Louviere
Phone: (703) 235-1452
Released Thursday, September 7, 2000
Mining Operations Recognized For Outstanding Safety Records
Eight mining operations have been honored for their outstanding 1999 safety records in
the annual Sentinels of Safety awards program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Mining Association (NMA).
Mining companies in various operational categories were recognized for achieving the
greatest number of employee work-hours in 1999 without an injury that resulted in lost
workdays. To have qualified, a company had to compile at least 30,000 employee work hours
during the year without a lost-time injury or fatality.
"The winners of this year's Sentinels of Safety award have soundly demonstrated they
won't sacrifice safety in the name of production," said Davitt McAteer, assistant labor secretary
for mine safety and health. "Their workforce represents a team of individuals who look out for
themselves and for one another. They understand that the biggest payoff is returning home safely
at the end of the work day."
The Sentinels of Safety award is
the oldest, established award for occupational safety. The first one was
announced by President Herbert Hoover -- a former mining engineer -- when he was
secretary of commerce in 1925. The annual safety competition has continued
uninterrupted to the present day.
First-place winners and their number of consecutive employee-hours recorded in each of
the sponsored mining categories are as follows:
Underground Coal Group
Kingston
No. 1 Mine, Kingston Mining, Inc., Scarbro, WV,
197,464 hours.
Surface Coal Group
Cordero
Mine, Cordero Mining Co., Gillette, WY
814,451 hours.
Underground Metal Group
Sweetwater Mine/Mill, The Doe Run Company, Reynolds, MO,
277,254 hours.
Underground Nonmetal Group
Locust Cove Mine, United States Gypsum Company,
Saltville, VA, 129,515 hours.
Open Pit Group
Phelps Dodge Sierrita, Phelps Dodge Sierrita, Inc.,
Green Valley, AZ,
471,873 hours.
Quarry Group
Thornton Quarry,
Material Service Corporation,
Thornton, IL, 184,159 hours.
Bank or Pit Group
Blue Diamond Materials, Pioneer Concrete of Nevada,
Las Vegas, NV,
228,934 hours.
Dredge Group
Briggs Plant, Fordyce Company,
Victoria, TX,
250,976 hours.
Other mining operations with exceptional safety records during 1999 included the
following:
Underground Coal Group
Black Knight II, Elk Run Coal Company, Inc., Sylvester, WV, 107,619 hours.
Humphrey Mine,Consolidation Coal Company, Maidsville, WV, 106,966 hours.
Outpost West, Marfork Coal Company, Inc., Whitesville, WV, 93,344 hours.
Pride #1 Underground, White River Coal, Inc., Monroe City, IN, 84,699 hours.
Surface Coal Group
Samples Mine, Cantenary Coal Company, Eskdale, WV, 684,213 hours.
Big Brown Strip, TXU
Mining Company, Fairfield, TX, 565,068 hours.
Kemmerer Mine, Pittsburg & Midway Coal
Mining Company, Kemmerer, WY, 513,301 hours.
Muskingum Mine, Central Ohio Coal
Company, Cumberland, OH, 373,678 hours.
Underground Metal Group
Buick Mine/Mill, The Doe Run Company, Boss, MO, 274,704 hours.
Fletcher Mine/Mill, The
Doe Run Company, Viburnum, MO, 195,237 hours.
Cumberland Mine, Pasminco Zinc, Inc.,
Gordonsville, TN, 86,796 hours.
Rain Underground, Small Mine Development, LLD., Carlin,
NV 42,363 hours.
Underground Nonmetal Group
Riverside Stone, Yager Materials, Inc., Brandenburg, KY, 118,209 hours.
Pleasant Gap Mine,
Graybec Lime, Inc., Pleasant Gap, PA, 110,939 hours.
Kimballtown Plant #1, Chemical Lime of
Virginia, Inc., Ripplemead, VA, 76,157 hours.
Blue Stone Quarry, Latrobe Construction Co.,
Latrobe, PA, 68,704 hours.
Open Pit Group
DuPont Florida Mine & Plant, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. Inc., Starke, FL, 266,037 hours.
Swift Creek Mine, PCS Phosphate, White Springs, FL, 262,797 hours.
Denton-Rawhide,
Kennecott Rawhide Mining Co., Fallon, NV, 248,509 hours.
The Wharf Mine, Wharf Resources
(USA), Inc., Lead, SD, 195,107 hours.
Quarry Group
Reed Quarry, Vulcan Materials Company, Grand Rivers, KY, 130,812 hours.
Servtex Plant,
Hanson Aggregates West, Inc., New Braunfels, TX, 109,047 hours.
Hy Desert Rustic Stone,
Hard Rock Veneer, Red Mountain, CA, 108,518 hours.
Longview Lime, Dravo Lime Company,
Saginaw, AL, 108,210 hours.
Bank or Pit Group
Plant 11, United Metro Materials, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, 160,323 hours.
Arena Plant, Pioneer South
Central, Altair, TX, 141,064 hours.
Little River Plant #743, Hanson Aggregates West, Inc.,
Ashdown, AR, 137,459 hours.
Taylor Division, Badger Mining Corporation, Taylor, WI,
108,032 hours.
Dredge Group
Porter Plant, Hallett Materials, Porter, TX, 105,199 hours.
EPK Clay Division, The Feldspar
Corporation, Edgar, FL, 81,985 hours.
Blue Roan Bend, Pioneer South Central, Inc., Garwood,
TX, 65,987 hours.
Drowning Creek Drdg. & Plant, Southern Products & Silica Co., Hoffman,
NC, 56,050 hours.
