Mining Incidents

Peabody Energy; United Minerals Inc: 809 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: C15089

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
142
Mines on record
14
Years on record
1994–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
809
citations
197
significant & substantial
$564,489
proposed penalties
$410,268
paid to date
73% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $154,221 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
173
inspections on record
6,094
inspection hours
13.3
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.
809 citations across 6,094 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, 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.
$564K
proposed penalties
$410K
current assessed
$410K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
806 assessments are final orders; 17 contested dockets.
Of $258K in penalties contested before the Commission, $104K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-09-22.
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.
24.4%
significant & substantial
1.2%
high negligence or reckless
25.1%
reasonably likely or greater
10.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.7% low, 89.1% moderate, 1.2% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2015
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.
0.60
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.76 and the all-US-mining average was 2.72 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2015 0.60 0.00 0.000
2014 2.04 1.23 0.000
2013 0.43 0.00 0.000
2012 1.89 0.47 0.000
2011 1.49 1.49 0.000
2010 2.03 0.81 0.000
2009 1.17 0.78 0.000
2008 1.65 0.99 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: 2015-12-15, 10 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
440
samples
2.54
dust max (mg/m3)
0
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.
382 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 58 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR103
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE73
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR71

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2015-10-05, 10 years ago
10.5
silica avg (%)
19
samples
35.1
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR13
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR5
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER1

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: 2015-09-16, 10 years ago
7%
over PEL
180
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR47
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE31
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER25
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.
47 citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
  • Settled 47 · 100%
58%
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 33 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
60%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$256K proposed, $103K 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 2015-07-08. 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 2008-367 Settlement Manning 2009 $104K → $36K
LAKE 2015-0570 Settlement Lewis 2017 $52K → $14K
LAKE 2009-320 Settlement Paez 2011 $21K → $10K
LAKE 2009-743 Settlement Miller 2010 $19K → $10K
LAKE 2009-184 Settlement Barbour 2010 $14K → $4K
LAKE 2013-595 Settlement Lesnick 2014 $11K → $11K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2015
2
2014
5
2013
2
2012
4
2011
3
2010
5
2009
3
2008
5
2007
11
2006
6
2005
9
2004
6
2003
6
2002
10
2001
10
2000
13
1999
4
1998
13
1997
4
1996
7
1995
9
1994
5

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

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Where Peabody Energy; United Minerals Inc 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.

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