STATE BOARD CONSIDERS DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTS FOR MINERS

MADISONVILLE, Ky. - When allegations of drug use by miners arise at
the scene of an accident, investigators do not order drug tests to
check, a state official said yesterday.

"We just don't have the authority to do that," Tony Oppegard, general
counsel for the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, said at a
public hearing. The forum was held by the Kentucky Mining Board to
gather information about the best way to curtail drug and alcohol
substance abuse by miners.

The board is expected to make a recommendation to the General Assembly
later this year. Its members are examining issues such as when - or if
- - drug tests should be mandated and whether a mining company or the
state should pay for them.

It also is gathering information about company policies pertaining to
drug use and testing.

During an investigation last June at the Cody Mining Co. in Floyd
County after one miner was killed and another was seriously injured,
marijuana was found at the scene. Another employee told investigators
he saw two miners crushing painkillers and inhaling them.

Drug and alcohol use at coal mines is illegal. But to test for drugs,
"you can only do it through an autopsy," said Holly McCoy, a
spokeswoman for the Mines and Minerals Department. "If there is a
fatality, you can find out about the person who was dead, but you
can't find out about anybody else involved in the accident."

A dozen people attended the hearing, but only three people spoke.

Heath Lovell, of Dodge Hill Mining in Sturgis, told board members he
believes there is reluctance in the mining industry to speak because
more regulation is feared.

He said one solution might be to have toll-free telephone numbers that
miners could call anonymously to report drug or alcohol use by others
on the job.

"They as employees don't like to point fingers," Lovell said.

He said his mine, with 180 workers, already mandates drug tests for
miners involved in an accident.

"We don't want anybody to have to work with somebody under the
influence of drugs and or alcohol," Lovell said.

Edgar Oldham, who represents labor interests on the mining board,
encouraged people at yesterday's meeting to speak out about the issue
or the "board may come up with something you don't like."

A second hearing will be held Aug. 19 at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park
in Prestonsburg. The board will accept written comments until Sept.
18.