W.Va. mine safety talks should wrap up by midweek - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

W.Va. mine safety talks should wrap up by midweek

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Mine safety director Eugene White says talks being held at 500 West Virginia coal operations are still under way and should be completed by the middle of next week.
    
A team of 85 including officials with the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training should finish visits to underground mines this weekend. But White says it may take until midweek to wrap up with surface mines and preparation plants.
    
The goal is to reach every miner on every shift.
    
White says he fully supported Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's call this week for a one-hour "stand-down" after the state's fourth mining-related fatality in 14 days.
    
He says West Virginia had to do something.
    
Critics call such time-outs publicity stunts, but White says regulators can't stop communicating with coal companies or miners.