Sunrise Coal, LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
Injured was found in entry 11, caught between the left rib and the horn of the miner.
Hallador Energy Company: 1 recorded fatality controller
MSHA controller ID: 0141083
Hallador Energy Company has had 1 fatality among 428 reportable incidents since 2018. MSHA has proposed $1.0M in penalties since 2018, with $10K outstanding.
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Hallador Energy Company controls.
Public-issuer link
HALLADOR ENERGY CO (HNRG) discloses mines under this controller in its SEC Dodd-Frank Section 1503 (EX-95) mine-safety filings.
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2018
2,567
citations
548
significant & substantial
$1,034,145
proposed penalties
$939,459
paid to date
91% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $94,686 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2018
1,681
inspections on record
80,210
inspection hours
3.2
citations per 100 inspection hours
ⓘ
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.2,567 citations across 80,210 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
ⓘ
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.3
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2026-05-28.
On record since 2018.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
ⓘ
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.$1.0M
proposed penalties
$950K
current assessed
$939K
paid to date
$10K
outstanding
2,453 assessments are final orders; 10 contested dockets.
Of $168K in penalties contested before the Commission, $84K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-08-13.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
ⓘ
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.21.9%
significant & substantial
1.8%
high negligence or reckless
21.9%
reasonably likely or greater
15.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 42.0% low, 56.0% moderate, 1.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000 and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year. Employment reports reach back to 1983, but those earlier years come from MSHA's archived file format and are not used in rates.4.84
total case rate
2.42
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.98 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5.10 | 2.70 | 0.000 |
| 2025 | 4.84 | 2.42 | 0.000 |
| 2024 | 7.64 | 4.10 | 0.000 |
| 2023 | 4.77 | 2.39 | 0.000 |
| 2022 | 4.73 | 3.42 | 0.101 |
| 2021 | 5.66 | 3.47 | 0.000 |
| 2020 | 4.66 | 2.88 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 5.17 | 2.73 | 0.000 |
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Health sampling
ⓘ
A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.Respirable coal dust
ⓘ
Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.
Last sampled: 2026-09-21
ⓘ
Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
26,827
samples
3.72
dust max (mg/m3)
132
over MSHA ECV
ⓘ
The excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.2,959 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 23,868 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)11,417
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR6,116
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)5,898
Silica (quartz)
Last sampled: 2026-09-252.9
silica avg (%)
1,642
samples
21.1
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)741
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR375
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)364
Noise
ⓘ
The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.
Last sampled: 2026-07-21
ⓘ
The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.7%
over PEL
803
samples
Most-sampled occupations
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)215
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR109
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)89
Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.
Last sampled: 2018-06-20, 8 years ago
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.2
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
When citations were contested
ⓘ
Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
16
citations taken to the federal commission · 1% of citations on record
- Settled 13 · 81%
- Still open 3 · 19%
92%
S&S designation survived the contest
ⓘ
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.of 12 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
50%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$168K proposed, $84K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2026-07-28. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
Contested penalties
ⓘ
A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.Largest penalties this controller contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
| Docket | Decision | Judge | Year | Proposed / upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAKE 2025-0148 | Settlement | Young | 2025 | $45K → $11K |
| LAKE 2023-0206 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2024 | $40K → $26K |
| LAKE 2019-0029 | Settlement | Feldman | 2019 | $37K → $19K |
| LAKE 2023-0204 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2024 | $25K → $16K |
| LAKE 2021-0137 | Settlement | Miller | 2021 | $7K → $692 |
| LAKE 2023-0236 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2023 | $7K → $4K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- MACHINERY 1 fatality · 50 non-fatal
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 139 non-fatal
- FALL OF ROOF OR BACK 73 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 65 non-fatal
- POWERED HAULAGE 39 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 32 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2026
21
2025
40
2024
67
2023
62
2022
59 (1f)
2021
51
2020
38
2019
66
2018
24
Operators under this controller
Mines on record
Fatalities under this controller
1 recordedFor insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Hallador Energy Company stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate
MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.
The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.