Mining Incidents

7: 185 MSHA citations Coal

Black Pearl Mining, Inc. · Underground
Controlled by Ricky T Lucas
Phelps, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1519775

7 has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $17K outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2016–2017
Latest incident
Mar 2017
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2015
185
citations
42
significant & substantial
$23,101
proposed penalties
$6,120
paid to date
26% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $16,981 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2015
37
inspections on record
2,387
inspection hours
7.8
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.
185 citations across 2,387 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

7 has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $17K outstanding across 2 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.
$23K
proposed penalties
$23K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$17K
outstanding
173 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2018-01-29.
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.
24.1%
significant & substantial
4.6%
high negligence or reckless
24.1%
reasonably likely or greater
14.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.6% none, 13.2% low, 81.6% moderate, 4.6% 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.
18 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 18 · 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 7 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
5%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $2K 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 2017-08-16.
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 2017-0215 Default Lesnick 2017 $2K → $2K
KENT 2017-9349 Dismissal Lesnick 2017 $116 → $0
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at 7 shows 98% of 125 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: 2018-02-07, 8 years ago
98%
within 1.5 mg/m3
125
samples
2.81
dust max (mg/m3)
3
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.
63 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 62 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR47
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)25
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)14

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2018-02-14, 8 years ago
6.6
silica avg (%)
9
samples
7.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR6
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)2

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: 2017-12-19, 8 years ago
0%
over PEL
35
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)6
  • ELECTRICIAN5
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
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
2018 100% 6
2017 100% 30
2016 96% 83
2015 100% 6
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2018 7.3 2
2017 6.7 3
2016 6.1 4
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2017 0% 15
2016 0% 15
2015 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

7 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2016.

Injury rate, 2016
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 3.79 and the all-US-mining average was 2.59 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.56 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.
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. Apex Energy, Inc. 2015 to 2015
  2. Dags Branch Coal Co., Inc. 2015 to 2016
  3. NEW AGE MINING LLC 2016 to 2017
  4. HAMILTON MINING LLC 2017 to 2017
  5. Black Pearl Mining, Inc. 2017 to present
  6. Jet Coal Co., Inc.. 2017 to 2018
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)
2017 15 19,866
2016 11 20,284
2015 14 4,463
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

7 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
2017 Q4 11,004 12 2 1090.5
2017 Q3 7,850 1 0 127.4
2017 Q1 3,376 56 20 16587.7
2016 Q4 8,873 27 4 3042.9
2016 Q3 8,114 18 2 2218.4
2016 Q2 317 6 0 18927.4
2016 Q1 6,093 11 0 1805.4
2015 Q4 1,857 6 0 3231.0
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q3 3,521 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 2,935 2 1 681.4
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2017 · 1 incident

March 21, 2017 KY · Coal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator STRIKING OR BUMPING
HAMILTON MINING LLC · Struck against stationary object

Subject was sitting down in forklift seat when EE struck sacral and coccyx area on seat belt holder.

2016 · 1 incident

March 23, 2016 KY · Coal INUNDATION
Dags Branch Coal Co., Inc. · Accident type, without injuries

During normal mining, the continuous miner cut into an existing auger hole. There was no flooding of water or gas, therefore no persons were affected by the occurrence, other than the cessation of production, until the hole was sealed off from the mine. The mine resumed production on 5/02/2016.