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Bear Branch Refuse: 59 MSHA citations Coal

Tahiti Energy, Inc. · Surface
Controlled by Jody Dale Puckett
Phelps, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1518992

Bear Branch Refuse has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
—
Latest incident
—
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2006
59
citations
22
significant & substantial
$6,452
proposed penalties
$5,192
paid to date
80% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,260 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Tahiti Energy, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
73
inspections on record
1,184
inspection hours
5.0
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.
59 citations across 1,184 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Bear Branch Refuse has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K 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.
$6K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
53 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-04-03.
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.
41.5%
significant & substantial
3.8%
high negligence or reckless
41.5%
reasonably likely or greater
13.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.4% low, 86.8% moderate, 3.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Bear Branch Refuse shows 100% of 34 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: 2014-09-17, 11 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
34
samples
0.29
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.
34 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER9
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE9
  • ROTARY BUCKET EXCAVATOR OPERATOR8

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: 2014-09-17, 11 years ago
0%
over PEL
25
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE6
  • ROTARY BUCKET EXCAVATOR OPERATOR5
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
2014 100% 4
2013 100% 7
2012 100% 14
2009 100% 9
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2014 0% 4
2012 0% 17
2009 0% 4
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Bear Branch Refuse recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2013.

Injury rate, 2013
ⓘ 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 3.94 and the all-US-mining average was 2.99 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.63 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. Black Forest Enterprises Inc 2006 to 2009
  2. IBCS Mining Inc KY Division 2009 to 2017
  3. Holy Smoke Coal LLC 2017 to 2022
  4. Tahiti Energy, Inc. 2022 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2014 28
2013 25
2012 9
2011 2
2010 1
2009 1
2008 0
2007 0
2006 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Bear Branch Refuse 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
2014 Q1 3,924 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 12,093 1 0 82.7
2013 Q3 13,560 6 2 442.5
2013 Q2 8,333 3 3 360.0
2013 Q1 9,050 6 1 663.0
2012 Q4 3,200 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 3,200 1 0 312.5
2011 Q3 1,080 0 0 0.0
Show 13 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2011 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 420 1 0 2381.0
2010 Q2 420 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 720 2 0 2777.8
2009 Q1 0 3 1
2008 Q4 0 0 0
2007 Q4 0 0 0
2007 Q3 0 0 0
2007 Q1 0 2 1
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 0 3 1

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.