Mining Incidents

# 2: 107 MSHA citations Coal

Adella Coal, Inc. · Underground
Controlled by Kennedy King
McDowell, Floyd County, KY  ·  NonProducing
MSHA Mine ID: 1519957

# 2 has $18K in proposed MSHA penalties and $12K outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
4
Years on record
2025–2026
Latest incident
Jun 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2024
107
citations
28
significant & substantial
$18,220
proposed penalties
$6,636
paid to date
36% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $11,584 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2024
26
inspections on record
1,996
inspection hours
5.4
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.
107 citations across 1,996 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

# 2 has $18K in proposed MSHA penalties and $12K outstanding across 4 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.
$18K
proposed penalties
$18K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$12K
outstanding
87 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $1K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-25.
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.
27.5%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
27.5%
reasonably likely or greater
29.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 2.9% low, 97.1% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% 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.
16 citations taken to the federal commission · 15% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 6%
  • Stood as issued 2 · 13%
  • Still open 13 · 81%
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 3 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
3%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1K proposed, $1K 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 2026-07-23.
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 2025-0102 Default Voisin 2025 $796 → $796
KENT 2025-0096 Settlement Paez 2025 $366 → $330
KENT 2026-0048 Decision pending
KENT 2026-0093 Decision pending
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at # 2 shows 100% of 269 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: 2026-02-25
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
269
samples
1.10
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.
75 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 194 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR107
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)58
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)52

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-02-06
9.0
silica avg (%)
24
samples
25.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR9
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)8
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)4

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: 2026-02-26
8%
over PEL
52
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)14
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR12
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR8
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
2026 100% 21
2025 100% 179
2024 100% 69
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2026 21.1 3
2025 6.1 13
2024 8.1 8
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2026 17% 6
2025 0% 24
2024 14% 22
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

# 2 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.

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.
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 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.08 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 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. J & S Coal, LLC 2024 to 2025
  2. Adella Coal, Inc. 2025 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)
2026 7
2025 12 37,115
2024 11 44,976
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

# 2 sits in Floyd County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 4.4% 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.
Floyd County, Kentucky · Population 35,342
4.4%
Mining share of county employment
$41,582
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
2026 Q2 894 9 2 10067.1
2026 Q1 4,365 14 4 3207.3
2025 Q4 5,961 17 7 2851.9
2025 Q3 1,200 3 1 2500.0
2025 Q2 9,993 12 2 1200.8
2025 Q1 10,087 14 3 1387.9
2024 Q4 9,654 14 3 1450.2
2024 Q3 8,536 16 3 1874.4
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 5,477 4 1 730.3
2024 Q1 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

4 on file

2026 · 2 incidents

June 24, 2026 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Adella Coal, Inc. · Accident type, without injuries

This report applies to a second Roof Fall which was located on 06/24/2026. The mine is in Non-Producing Status as the only people working at this mine are only doing a weekly examination which can be conducted in one (1) day. Employees will have to brought in from other mines to install the beams and cribs.

April 29, 2026 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Adella Coal, Inc. · Accident type, without injuries

There was a Non-Injury Roof Fall which occurred at this mine on 04/30/2026. No employees were there when the Roof Fall occurred.

2025 · 2 incidents

September 22, 2025 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Adella Coal, Inc. · Accident type, without injuries

There was a Non-Injury Roof Fall that occurred at this mine on 09/22/2025 in the #4 Belt Entry at Spad #93 on the South Mains

June 24, 2025 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
J & S Coal, LLC · Accident type, without injuries

There was a Non-Injury Roof Fall which occurred at this mine 0n 06/24/2026. No employees were there when the Roof Fall occurred.