James C Justice III: 1,973 MSHA citations controller
MSHA controller ID: 0171761
Watch this controller
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine James C Justice III controls.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 28
- Mines on record
- 5
- Years on record
- 2022–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2022
1,973
citations
543
significant & substantial
$5,929,247
proposed penalties
$432,710
paid to date
7% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $5,496,537 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2006
1
labor cases
1
employees affected
Violation types
Wage & hour (FLSA) (1)
Source: US DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement records, matched by employer name and state.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2022
512
inspections on record
10,829
inspection hours
18.2
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.1,973 citations across 10,829 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.2
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2025-08-06.
On record since 2024.
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.$5.9M
proposed penalties
$5.4M
current assessed
$433K
paid to date
$4.9M
outstanding
1,783 assessments are final orders; 72 contested dockets.
Of $1.4M in penalties contested before the Commission, $775K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-19.
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.28.7%
significant & substantial
10.8%
high negligence or reckless
28.7%
reasonably likely or greater
37.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.5% none, 45.8% low, 42.9% moderate, 10.8% high, 0.1% 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, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.3.92
total case rate
2.18
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 0.000 |
| 2025 | 3.92 | 2.18 | 0.000 |
| 2024 | 2.67 | 1.34 | 0.000 |
| 2023 | 2.49 | 1.99 | 0.000 |
| 2022 | 1.86 | 1.86 | 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: 2026-08-11
ⓘ
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
559
samples
8.85
dust max (mg/m3)
2
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.290 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 269 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR147
- BULLDOZER OPERATOR78
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)67
Silica (quartz)
Last sampled: 2026-06-295.6
silica avg (%)
59
samples
27.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR12
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)12
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)12
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: 2026-08-05
ⓘ
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.2%
over PEL
167
samples
Most-sampled occupations
- BULLDOZER OPERATOR22
- HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER22
- AUGER HELPER21
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, 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.
692
citations taken to the federal commission · 35% of citations on record
- Settled 662 · 96%
- Stood as issued 25 · 4%
- Still open 5 · 1%
95%
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 234 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.4M proposed, $775K 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 2025-08-13. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEVA 2024-0267 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2025 | $172K → $95K |
| WEVA 2024-0308 | Settlement | 2024 | $104K → $57K | |
| WEVA 2024-0187 | Settlement | Lewis | 2025 | $88K → $28K |
| WEVA 2024-0254 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2024 | $77K → $35K |
| WEVA 2024-0156 | Settlement | McCarthy | 2024 | $77K → $39K |
| WEVA 2024-0190 | Settlement | McCarthy | 2024 | $63K → $30K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 8 non-fatal
- FALL OF ROOF OR BACK 6 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 3 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 3 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 2 non-fatal
- OTHER 2 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2026
4
2025
10
2024
5
2023
7
2022
2
Operators under this controller
Mines on record
- BELCHER BRANCH WV
- Bishop Impoundment Area WV
- Tams No.1 Surface Mine WV
- No.32 WV
- Baden #1 VA
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where James C Justice III 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.