The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration this week won a rare round in a longstanding cat-and-mouse contest in which mine employees tipped off underground foremen about the arrival of inspectors.

The victory comes less than a week after a congressional committee heard testimony about such tip-offs at the Upper Big Branch Mine, an oft-sanctioned coal mine where 29 men died in a massive explosion last month.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted a preliminary injunction against a pair of coal companies and the brothers that run them after inspectors seized phones during a surprise inspection and listened in as someone sent a warning to crews underground that inspectors had arrived.

Officials cited the Manalapan Mining Co., which operates the RB No. 12 Mine in Harlan County, Ky., and the Left Fork Mining Co., which runs the Straight Creek No. 1 Mine in Bell County, Ky.

The government's motion seeking the injunction says that on April 19 two groups of inspectors arrived at both the Manalapan and Left Fork mines where they identified themselves to above-ground employees and directed those employees not to alert anyone of their presence.

An inspector then took control of one of the units of the mine phone -- a direct line with multiple extensions that runs from the mine office to the mine's underground work areas -- to monitor any communications between the surface and underground.

"At both mines, MSHA inspectors testified that they overheard statements on the seized mine phones that establish that advance notice of the inspections was given," wrote U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tattenhove.

At one mine, an inspector said he overheard someone saying, "There are two federal inspectors out there." At another, an inspector said he heard someone instruct the underground crew, "Shut all belts off. Because there are six federal mine inspectors on the property."

Mine safety officials have contended that tipping off workers about an inspection is a violation of mine safety laws, but that inspectors often are helpless to prevent such a tip-off unless they arrive in a large enough number for one of them to monitor the mine phone.

"Because we had multiple inspectors on the ground, we could do that," said Elizabeth Alexander, a spokeswoman for the Department of Labor, which oversees MSHA. "Every inspection does not involve multiple inspectors."

Also cited in the complaint were Benjamin Bennett, who is president of both companies, and his brother, George Bennett, who is vice president of both companies. Also named was David Partin, operations manager for Manalapan.

Judge Tatenhove, however, said the government appeared to overreach in naming the Bennets and Mr. Partin, who were not on the property during the inspection and instructed MSHA to show cause as to why they should not be removed from the government's action.

The so-called "saturation" inspections were ordered in the wake of the Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 men died in what appears to have been a methane-triggered explosion. On Monday, a witness from the mine told the House Education and Labor Committee's field hearing in Beckley, W.Va., that Upper Big Branch employees commonly tipped off crews underground when MSHA inspectors arrived, allowing them to clear away any unsafe conditions and hide violations of mine safety laws.

Manalapan and Left Fork issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon blasting MSHA and noting that a federal judge ordered the agency to show reason why the three men named in the injunction request should not be dismissed from the action.

"It is hoped that MSHA will take note of the judge's directive and dismiss its unsupportable charges," the statement declared.

The release, provided by John M. Williams, one of two Pine­ville, Ky. lawyers representing the firms, says MSHA "damaged the personal integrity of the individuals and the companies in the eyes of the companies' customers and the public, which did a great disservice to the citizens of Bell and Harlan counties and the mining industry as a whole."

MSHA revealed last month that when conducting surprise inspections of two West Virginia mines recently, it took control of the phone lines to prevent mine officials from tipping off their underground colleagues to the inspectors' presence.

MSHA head Joe Main, a former United Mine Workers safety chief, said after the hearing he had heard of such stories "all my life."

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said he was alarmed at the practice.

"Interfering with MSHA and the Department of Labor, somehow on its face has to be an obstruction of justice," he said.

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