Mining Incidents

The Casselman Mine: 33 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by James J Svonavec
Boynton, Somerset County, PA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 3610377

The Casselman Mine has had no fatalities among 1 reportable incident since 2023. MSHA has proposed $7K in penalties since 2022.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2023
Latest incident
Dec 2023
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2022
33
citations
7
significant & substantial
$6,887
proposed penalties
$6,887
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date. The remaining $0 was reduced, settled, contested or is still owed.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2022
16
inspections on record
394
inspection hours
n/a
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.
Rate withheld: 394 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

The Casselman Mine has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
32 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-11-04.
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
3.1%
high negligence or reckless
21.9%
reasonably likely or greater
25.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 34.4% low, 62.5% moderate, 3.1% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at The Casselman Mine shows 100% of 49 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: 2026-09-28
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
49
samples
1.08
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.
31 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 18 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR22
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2022-09-12, 4 years ago
11.0
silica avg (%)
2
samples
18.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1
  • HIGHWALL DRILL 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: 2026-09-28
5%
over PEL
20
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR6
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE6
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR5
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% 4
2025 100% 4
2024 100% 8
2023 100% 23
2022 100% 10
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2026 33% 3
2025 0% 1
2023 0% 10
2022 0% 6
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

The Casselman Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024.

Injury rate, 2024
ⓘ 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.
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 3.16 and the all-US-mining average was 2.08 cases per 100 workers.
In Pennsylvania, coal mining averaged 3.30 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
2024 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 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 & J SVONAVEC EXCAVATING, INC. 2022 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 1
2025 1
2024 11 88,335
2023 12 133,093
2022 9 87,778
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly; years before 2000 come from MSHA's archived Part 50 employment files.

The Casselman Mine sits in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.6% 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.
Somerset County, Pennsylvania · Population 73,255
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$59,378
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; earlier incidents are counted but not rate-adjusted, though reported hours reach back to 1983. 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 353 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 186 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 314 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 92 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 250 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 4,132 1 0 242.0
2024 Q3 5,729 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 6,793 2 0 294.4
Show 9 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1 7,436 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 6,771 7 0 1033.8
2023 Q3 7,275 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 6,374 4 1 627.5
2023 Q1 7,446 8 4 1074.4
2022 Q4 10,359 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 6,598 6 0 909.4
2022 Q2 4,815 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 1,120 1 1 892.9
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2023 · 1 incident

December 16, 2023 PA · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer OTHER
J & J SVONAVEC EXCAVATING, INC. · (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee was released to return to work after being treated for an existing heart condition. EE was assigned to operate a D9T dozer. The foreman accompanied employee to the work area, checked the area & reviewed the assignment with EE. EE was found unresponsive in the cab of the dozer the next morning & the 911 call was made.