Mining Incidents

Beacon Knob Mine: 12 MSHA citations Coal

Keystone Coal Reserves, LLC · Surface
Davis WV, Tucker County, WV  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4609380

Beacon Knob Mine has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2012
Latest incident
Dec 2012
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2011
12
citations
6
significant & substantial
$2,806
proposed penalties
$1,236
paid to date
44% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,570 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2011
16
inspections on record
369
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: 369 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2014-05-21.
On record since 2014.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Beacon Knob Mine has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K 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.
$3K
proposed penalties
$3K
current assessed
$1K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
11 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-06-25.
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.
54.5%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
54.5%
reasonably likely or greater
45.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 36.4% low, 63.6% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Beacon Knob Mine shows 100% of 18 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: 2014-06-10, 12 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
18
samples
0.59
dust max (mg/m3)
18 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER3
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR2

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: 2014-06-09, 12 years ago
18%
over PEL
17
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE4
  • STRIPPING SHOVEL OPERATOR3
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
2014 100% 4
2012 100% 9
2011 100% 5
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2014 25% 8
2012 25% 4
2011 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Beacon Knob Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2012.

Injury rate, 2012
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 3.74 and the all-US-mining average was 2.96 cases per 100 workers.
In West Virginia, coal mining averaged 4.13 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. Beacon Resources Inc. 2011 to 2014
  2. Keystone Coal Reserves, LLC 2014 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)
2013 6 15,537
2012 21 111,991
2011 8 67,378
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Beacon Knob Mine sits in Tucker County, West Virginia, 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.
Tucker County, West Virginia · Population 6,698
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$53,475
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
2013 Q3 0 0 0
2013 Q2 3,757 1 0 266.2
2013 Q1 4,156 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 3,082 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 8,218 1 0 121.7
2012 Q2 5,521 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 13,866 1 1 72.1
2011 Q4 7,904 0 0 0.0
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2011 Q3 4,283 3 1 700.4
2011 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2012 · 1 incident

December 5, 2012 WV · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Beacon Resources Inc. · Struck by falling object

Tech. was working on equipment with hood prop mount when the hood fell and landed on top of the tech's right hand cutting his middle and right index finger.