Mining Incidents
Search Operators Mines Alerts Research Controllers Fatalgrams About
English Español
← Back to search

Auger No. 26: 21 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Anthony V Lanham
North Knottsville, Daviess County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1519536

Auger No. 26 has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Auger No. 26.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
—
Latest incident
—
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2011
21
citations
12
significant & substantial
$3,270
proposed penalties
$1,411
paid to date
43% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,859 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Western Kentucky Minerals, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2011
36
inspections on record
675
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: 675 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Auger No. 26 has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 1 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.
$3K
proposed penalties
$3K
current assessed
$1K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
20 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-07-07.
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.
60.0%
significant & substantial
10.0%
high negligence or reckless
60.0%
reasonably likely or greater
10.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 20.0% low, 70.0% moderate, 10.0% 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.
5 citations taken to the federal commission · 24% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 5 · 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 3 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
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 2012-06-21.
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 2012-1242 Default Lesnick 2013 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Auger No. 26 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: 2021-08-16, 5 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
49
samples
0.90
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.
38 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 11 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • AUGER OPERATOR19
  • CONVEYOR OPERATOR7
  • COAL TRUCK DRIVER6

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2021-08-23, 5 years ago
0.8
silica avg (%)
4
samples
1.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • AUGER OPERATOR4
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2019-10-28, 6 years ago
0%
over PEL
26
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • AUGER OPERATOR5
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR3
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR3
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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
2021 100% 3
2020 100% 7
2019 100% 13
2018 100% 8
2015 100% 2
2012 100% 9
2011 100% 7
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2021 0.7 1
2020 0.7 1
2019 0.9 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2019 0% 6
2018 0% 3
2015 0% 2
2012 0% 8
2011 0% 7
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Denali Energy Group, LLC 2010 to 2018
  2. Western Kentucky Minerals, Inc. 2018 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)
2022 0
2021 2 4,993
2020 4 5,643
2019 4 11,658
2018 3 12,232
2014 2
2011 7 13,363
2010 10 4,232
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Auger No. 26 sits in Daviess County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 0.3% 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.
Daviess County, Kentucky · Population 103,195
0.3%
Mining share of county employment
$65,323
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
2022 Q3 0 0 0
2022 Q2 0 0 0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 1,880 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 2,974 1 0 336.2
2021 Q2 0 0 0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 3,035 0 0 0.0
Show 16 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2020 Q3 2,779 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 3,232 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 2,812 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 2,952 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,732 1 0 366.0
2019 Q2 3,257 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 2,649 1 0 377.5
2018 Q4 2,410 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 1,980 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 2,372 2 2 843.2
2014 Q4 440 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 2,287 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,296 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 1,474 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 6,111 4 2 654.6
2010 Q4 5,800 0 0 0.0

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.