State leads nation in number of mine lobbyists: Group's report says companies have 14 lobbyists in state

West Virginia has more lobbyists representing the mining industrythan any state in the nation, according to a report released by theCenter for Public Integrity.

All 14 mining lobbyists that registered in the state in 2000, whenthe study was conducted, were either coal companies or industryassociations. West Virginia is the nation's second-largest coalproducer behind Wyoming, which had four registered coal industrylobbyists.

"That's part of the coal culture in this state," said NormSteenstra, executive director of the West Virginia Citizen ActionGroup. "They've got money and they've got influence, and they'llspread it around."

Coal came in second to the health …