Mining Incidents

Beech Creek Mine: 52 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Phoenix Coal Corporation
Greenville, Muhlenberg County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1518377

Beech Creek Mine has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2008–2009
Latest incident
Jan 2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
52
citations
16
significant & substantial
$6,043
proposed penalties
$6,043
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
23
inspections on record
946
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: 946 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Beech Creek Mine has $6K 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.
$6K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
51 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2009-03-17.
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.
31.4%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
31.4%
reasonably likely or greater
7.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 100.0% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Beech Creek Mine shows 97% of 59 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: 2008-12-29, 17 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
59
samples
1.67
dust max (mg/m3)
54 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 5 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE22
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR16
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER10

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2005-09-21, 20 years ago
7.9
silica avg (%)
1
samples
7.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE1

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: 2008-12-29, 17 years ago
21%
over PEL
33
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR12
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE10
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER6
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
2008 100% 14
2007 89% 9
2006 100% 11
2005 100% 15
2004 90% 10
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2008 0% 10
2006 33% 6
2005 50% 2
2004 27% 15
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Beech Creek Mine recorded 2.18 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2008.

Injury rate, 2008
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.
2.18
total case rate
2.18
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 4.41 and the all-US-mining average was 3.61 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.87 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
2008 * 2.18 2.18 0.000
2007 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2006 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2005 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2004 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2003 * 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. C & R Coal Company Inc 2001 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)
2009 43 134,094
2008 53 524,888
2007 19 79,058
2006 20 171,852
2005 20 228,570
2004 16 199,984
2003 12 186,638
2002 10 17,554
2001 4 19,586
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Beech Creek Mine sits in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 3.2% 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.
Muhlenberg County, Kentucky · Population 30,712
3.2%
Mining share of county employment
$52,672
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
2009 Q2 7,129 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 27,671 5 2 180.7
2008 Q4 26,715 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 26,635 1 1 37.5
2008 Q2 29,610 5 1 168.9
2008 Q1 8,940 1 1 111.9
2007 Q4 10,188 2 1 196.3
2007 Q3 9,475 2 0 211.1
Show 21 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2007 Q2 9,713 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 7,961 4 0 502.4
2006 Q4 10,367 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 10,713 1 0 93.3
2006 Q2 11,259 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 12,009 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 12,120 6 3 495.0
2005 Q3 12,221 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 10,810 1 0 92.5
2005 Q1 9,799 1 0 102.1
2004 Q4 10,345 4 0 386.7
2004 Q3 9,031 5 2 553.6
2004 Q2 6,998 2 2 285.8
2004 Q1 5,188 3 1 578.3
2003 Q4 6,630 1 0 150.8
2003 Q3 5,673 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 5,428 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 5,481 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 3,765 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 3,264 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2009 · 1 incident

January 23, 2009 KY · Coal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
C & R Coal Company Inc · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

Injured party had just rolled a piece of rock off the belt. When he tried to stand up, he felt a pain in his lower back.

2008 · 1 incident

June 26, 2008 KY · Coal grader operator, roadgrader operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
C & R Coal Company Inc · Fall onto or against objects

Injured party stepped up off the ground to the 1st step on the road grader when his foot slipped, striking his leg against the step.