FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1995                       (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TAKES 'ONE TWO PUNCH' AGAINST CRIMINAL PRICE
FIXERS
                                 
 UTAH EXPLOSIVES COMPANY AGREES TO PAY A RECORD $15 MILLION FINE
FOR CONSPIRING TO FIX PRICES OF EXPLOSIVES SOLD IN FOUR STATES
                                 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--DYNO NOBEL INC., of Salt Lake City, one of
the world's largest manufacturers of commercial explosives, today
agreed to plead guilty and pay $15 million in criminal fines for
conspiring to fix the prices of commercial explosives sold in
Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana, and for eliminating competition
in the sale of commercial explosives to three limestone quarries
in central Texas, the Department of Justice said.  Today's $15
million is the largest from a single defendant in a criminal
antitrust case, exceeding a $10 million fine imposed just last
week on ICI Explosives USA Inc., a Dallas explosives company
which was involved in the same criminal price fixing conspiracy.
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said, "Today's record $15 million fine
which topped the recent $10 million fine, is a real one two punch
against criminal price fixers.  The message is clear--if you
engage in criminal price fixing activities you will face tough,
tough penalties."
     In a two-count case filed today in the U.S. District Court
in Dallas, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division charged
DYNO NOBEL INC. with conspiring from the Fall of 1988 to mid-1992
to fix the prices of commercial explosives offered for sale in
the western Kentucky area, including parts of southern Indiana
and southern Illinois.  DYNO NOBEL INC. was also charged with
conspiring from the Fall of 1990 through 1992 to eliminate
competition in the sale of explosives to three limestone quarries
in central Texas--the Lafarge Corporation quarry in New
Braunfels, the Redland Stone quarry in San Antonio and the Texas
Crushed Stone quarry in Georgetown.
     DYNO NOBEL INC. and its co-conspirators carried out the
conspiracy by discussing and agreeing to increase prices for
certain commercial explosives and agreeing upon bids or quotes to
certain customers.  The sale of these commercial explosives, such
as dynamite and ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil, or ANFO, is
an approximately $1 billion per year market in the United States. 
The mining, construction, and oil and gas industries are the
primary users of large quantities of these explosives.
     In a related case, the Antitrust Division filed today a one-count
 case charging Mine Equipment & Mill Supply Inc., a
distributor of commercial explosives based in Dawson Springs,
Kentucky, with also participating in the western Kentucky
conspiracy.  Mine Equipment & Mill Supply Inc., which is 50%
owned by DYNO NOBEL INC., agreed to plead guilty and pay a $1.9
million fine.
     Gary R. Spratling, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in
charge of criminal matters in the Antitrust Division, said, "You
can expect to see higher and higher fines as we crack larger and
larger conspiracies.  The average fine imposed on corporations
has increased 170 percent in the past three years."
     Bingaman said these cases resulted from an ongoing grand
jury investigation being conducted by the Division's Litigation I
Section with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.  
     Both DYNO NOBEL INC. and Mine Equipment & Mill Supply, Inc.
agreed to cooperate with the government in its on-going
investigation.  The fines in both cases are subject to court
approval.
     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act per count is a fine of $10 million,
twice the pecuniary gain the corporation derived from the crime,
or twice the pecuniary loss suffered by the victims of the crime,
whichever is greater.
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