Mining Incidents

#1: 333 MSHA citations Coal

Midgard Mining Co., LLC · Underground
Controlled by Josh Osborne
Ashcamp, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1518827

#1 has $595K in proposed MSHA penalties and $574K outstanding across 7 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2008
Latest incident
Mar 2008
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2005
333
citations
160
significant & substantial
$595,243
proposed penalties
$20,850
paid to date
4% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $574,393 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2004
20
inspections on record
1,871
inspection hours
17.8
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.
333 citations across 1,871 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

#1 has $595K in proposed MSHA penalties and $574K outstanding across 7 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$595K
proposed penalties
$595K
current assessed
$21K
paid to date
$574K
outstanding
321 assessments are final orders; 7 contested dockets.
Of $137K in penalties contested before the Commission, $137K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2008-04-15.
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.
49.7%
significant & substantial
7.8%
high negligence or reckless
49.5%
reasonably likely or greater
6.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 3.1% low, 89.1% moderate, 7.2% high, 0.6% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, 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.
68 citations taken to the federal commission · 20% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 68 · 100%
100%
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 32 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$137K proposed, $137K 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 2008-05-20.
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 mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
KENT 2008-1038 Default Lesnick 2010 $85K → $85K
KENT 2008-835 Default Lesnick 2010 $25K → $25K
KENT 2008-685 Default Lesnick 2010 $14K → $14K
KENT 2008-686 Default Lesnick 2009 $6K → $6K
KENT 2008-687 Default Lesnick 2010 $5K → $5K
KENT 2008-688 Default Lesnick 2009 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at #1 shows 99% of 191 respirable coal dust samples met the 1.5 mg/m3 standard.

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: 2008-04-15, 18 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
191
samples
3.67
dust max (mg/m3)
98 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 93 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR74
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR26
  • COAL DRILL OPERATOR11

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2007-10-19, 18 years ago
18.4
silica avg (%)
3
samples
32.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR1

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: 2008-01-08, 18 years ago
5%
over PEL
22
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR5
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR4
  • UTILITY MAN4
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Health sampling trend
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 by year
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.
Year within 1.5 mg/m3 samples
2008 100% 14
2007 100% 66
2006 97% 68
2005 100% 43
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2007 11.2 2
2005 32.9 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2008 0% 5
2007 0% 7
2005 10% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

#1 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2007.

Injury rate, 2007
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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 4.71 and the all-US-mining average was 3.77 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 5.12 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2007 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2006 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
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.
Ownership history
  1. Midgard Mining Co., LLC 2004 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Coal production is reported quarterly and lags the current period; the most recent quarters may be incomplete.
Year Employees Coal produced (tons)
2008 18 14,351
2007 20 91,340
2006 21 105,359
2005 13 54,795
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

#1 sits in Pike County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 5.1% of county employment.

Local economic context
County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Pike County, Kentucky · Population 57,466
5.1%
Mining share of county employment
$42,179
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2008 Q2 3,081 1 0 324.6
2008 Q1 6,744 47 18 6969.2
2007 Q4 7,840 82 40 10459.2
2007 Q3 10,114 10 5 988.7
2007 Q2 10,129 40 19 3949.1
2007 Q1 9,161 13 5 1419.1
2006 Q4 8,663 23 11 2655.0
2006 Q3 9,347 18 13 1925.8
Show 6 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2006 Q2 9,996 18 6 1800.7
2006 Q1 10,268 15 9 1460.8
2005 Q4 8,891 16 5 1799.6
2005 Q3 4,135 26 15 6287.8
2005 Q2 2,697 14 9 5191.0
2005 Q1 3,343 7 3 2093.9
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2008 · 2 incidents

March 13, 2008 KY · Coal laborer, bull gang, faceman, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler MACHINERY
Midgard Mining Co., LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Tramming Cutting Machine and ran over foot.

January 16, 2008 KY · Coal section foreman, bullgang foreman, labor foreman, leadman, shift boss MACHINERY
Midgard Mining Co., LLC · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Operating a cutting machine and his coat caught a roof bolt; jerking his head back, straining neck.