Mining Incidents

Beetree 2: 43 MSHA citations Coal

Salyersville, Magoffin County, KY  ·  NonProducing
MSHA Mine ID: 1519820

Beetree 2 has $10K in proposed MSHA penalties and $6K outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2019–2025
Latest incident
Apr 2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2018
43
citations
16
significant & substantial
$10,414
proposed penalties
$4,490
paid to date
43% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $5,924 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2017
26
inspections on record
1,379
inspection hours
3.1
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.
43 citations across 1,379 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Beetree 2 has $10K in proposed MSHA penalties and $6K outstanding across 3 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.
$10K
proposed penalties
$10K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$6K
outstanding
42 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-12-02.
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.
38.1%
significant & substantial
4.8%
high negligence or reckless
38.1%
reasonably likely or greater
19.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 2.4% low, 92.9% moderate, 4.8% 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.
10 citations taken to the federal commission · 23% of citations on record
  • Settled 9 · 90%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 10%
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%
26%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $1K 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 2019-09-24.
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 2019-0214 Settlement Bulluck 2019 $1K → $842
KENT 2019-0307 Settlement Bulluck 2019 $484 → $484
KENT 2019-0344 Withdrawal Miller 2019 $121 → $0
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Beetree 2 shows 99% of 95 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: 2025-05-20
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
95
samples
1.64
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.
51 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 44 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR41
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR32
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2025-05-29
10.3
silica avg (%)
14
samples
42.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR9
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5

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: 2025-05-20
2%
over PEL
47
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR14
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR11
  • ROTARY BUCKET EXCAVATOR OPERATOR7
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
2025 100% 8
2024 95% 21
2023 100% 2
2020 100% 7
2019 100% 26
2018 100% 29
2017 100% 2
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2025 11.8 2
2024 9.0 4
2019 4.3 3
2018 14.2 5
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2025 0% 5
2024 0% 15
2020 0% 6
2019 0% 10
2018 9% 11
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Beetree 2 recorded 3.37 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2019.

Injury rate, 2019
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.
3.37
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
About average. The US coal mining average was 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.10 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
2019 * 3.37 0.00 0.000
2018 * 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. Ember Energy, LLC 2017 to 2023
  2. Done Right Reclamation, LLC 2023 to 2024
  3. Foothills Mining, LLC 2024 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)
2025 8 49,875
2024 10 31,082
2023 5
2019 26 229,604
2018 36 431,755
2017 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Beetree 2 sits in Magoffin County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 2.7% 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.
Magoffin County, Kentucky · Population 11,495
2.7%
Mining share of county employment
$33,632
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
2025 Q3 567 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 1,500 5 1 3333.3
2025 Q1 7,558 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 8,753 4 2 457.0
2024 Q3 4,357 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 2,977 1 0 335.9
2024 Q1 2,533 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 2,013 0 0 0.0
Show 9 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2019 Q4 14,800 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 19,571 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 10 4 0 400000.0
2019 Q1 24,954 5 3 200.4
2018 Q4 22,612 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 25,987 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 26,127 5 3 191.4
2018 Q1 21,829 1 0 45.8
2017 Q4 3,026 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2025 · 1 incident

April 14, 2025 KY · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech MACHINERY
Foothills Mining, LLC · Contact with hot objects or substances

Cutting a bent leveling jack off drill tech rd50, torch flared from built up grease and water, burned mechanics left arm and scorched beard.

2019 · 1 incident

April 4, 2019 KY · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Ember Energy, LLC · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

Working on putting a chain on a sprocket. Operator was pushing down on pry bar when incident occurred. Strained abdominal area.