Federal regulators have cited the operator of a West Virginia coal mine for safety violations that resulted in the deaths of two workers, in a roof fall. In a report released on Tuesday, the U-S Mine Safety and Health Administration said Brooks Run Mining Company ignored its roof control plan for the Cucumber Mine in McDowell County. M-SHA also cited Brooks Run for inadequately training workers on safe retreat mining practices. Brook Run is owned by Alpha Natural Resources, based in Abingdon, Virginia. Retreat mining is conducted when miners back out of a mined-out section. As they back out, miners remove pillars of coal that had been used to support the mine’s roof. Forty-eight-year-old James Thomas of North Tazewell, Virginia, and 33-year-old Pete Poindexter of Rock, West Virginia were engaged in retreat mining on January 13th when the mine’s roof collapsed and killed them. Alpha Natural Resources says the company didn’t violate the mine’s roof control plan, and says the mine has always been operated in a safe manner.