Mine Safety Director Retiring

{Charleston, West Virginia}…McDowell County native C.A. Phillips, director of the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training will retire December 31st after being director since August 2011. Phillips served as acting director for nearly a year before that. He spent nearly a dozen years with the agency, starting in 2001 under the administration of then-Governor Bob Wise. Phillips worked in and around the mining industry since 1969. He was a miner and a fireboss for the Olga Coal Co., and went on to work as a safety representative for the United Mine Workers of America.