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

Bessemer Shale Mine: 109 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

USB Alabama, LLC · Surface
Controlled by RemSom, LLC
Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 0100094

Bessemer Shale Mine has $17K in proposed MSHA penalties and $217 outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Bessemer Shale Mine.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
1999
Latest incident
Sep 1999
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
109
citations
30
significant & substantial
$17,362
proposed penalties
$17,145
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $217 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See USB Alabama, LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
70
inspections on record
825
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: 825 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Bessemer Shale Mine has $17K in proposed MSHA penalties and $217 outstanding across 2 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.
$17K
proposed penalties
$17K
current assessed
$17K
paid to date
$217
outstanding
104 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-07-24.
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.
27.5%
significant & substantial
10.1%
high negligence or reckless
27.5%
reasonably likely or greater
54.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 11.9% low, 78.0% moderate, 10.1% 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.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 2% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 2 · 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 2 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 2010-08-16.
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
SE 2007-411M Default Lesnick 2011 $1K → $1K
SE 2010-1100M Default Lesnick 2011 $425 → $425
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘ Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2025-07-24
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
10
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg7
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (10)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2025-07-24 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Utility Man
2022-06-07 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.19 10 0.02 Truck Driver
2022-06-07 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Scale Man
2018-08-30 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2018-08-30 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2017-09-19 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Bulldozer Operator
2017-09-19 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2017-09-19 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.15 0.43 0.35 Front-end Loader Operator
2009-09-30 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.32 0.8 0.40 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-09-30 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Bickerstaff Clay Products Company Inc 1950 to 1995
  2. Boral Bricks Inc 1995 to 2017
  3. Meridian Brick LLC 2017 to 2021
  4. USB Alabama, LLC 2021 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 4
2025 4
2024 4
2023 4
2022 3
2021 3
2020 2
2019 2
2018 2
2017 3
2016 4
2015 2
2014 3
2013 3
2012 3
2011 3
2010 5
2009 5
2008 5
2007 6
2006 6
2005 3
2004 2
2003 4
2002 6
2001 6
2000 6
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Bessemer Shale Mine sits in Jefferson County, Alabama, 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.
Jefferson County, Alabama · Population 669,744
0.3%
Mining share of county employment
$64,589
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
2026 Q2 96 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 226 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 256 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 256 1 0 3906.2
2025 Q2 256 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 148 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 148 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 128 0 0 0.0
Show 98 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 68 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 68 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 220 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 220 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 50 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 34 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 24 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 180 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 262 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 283 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 264 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 514 1 0 1945.5
2021 Q2 480 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 400 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 300 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 360 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 450 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 400 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 96 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 96 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 320 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 480 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 600 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 550 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 600 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 600 1 0 1666.7
2017 Q3 600 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 720 1 0 1388.9
2017 Q1 720 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 800 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 765 1 0 1307.2
2016 Q2 1,425 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 1,239 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 1,262 8 0 6339.1
2015 Q3 750 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 800 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 765 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 730 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 735 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 751 1 0 1331.6
2014 Q1 769 1 0 1300.4
2013 Q4 771 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 807 1 0 1239.2
2013 Q2 839 1 1 1191.9
2013 Q1 606 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 852 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 841 1 0 1189.1
2012 Q2 700 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 772 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 818 1 0 1222.5
2011 Q3 792 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 745 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 640 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 950 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,072 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 420 3 0 7142.9
2010 Q1 95 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 536 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1,278 1 0 782.5
2009 Q2 692 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 399 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,178 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 380 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,423 2 0 1405.5
2008 Q1 881 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 1,508 3 1 1989.4
2007 Q3 2,144 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 2,122 1 0 471.3
2007 Q1 1,596 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 1,855 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 2,218 7 5 3156.0
2006 Q2 2,176 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 2,406 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 2,574 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,901 1 0 526.0
2005 Q2 6 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 6 1 0 166666.7
2004 Q3 6 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 6 4 1 666666.7
2004 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 0 0 0
2003 Q3 2,133 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 2,706 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 4,756 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 4,106 1 0 243.5
2002 Q3 4,282 2 1 467.1
2002 Q2 4,053 1 0 246.7
2002 Q1 4,196 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 3,964 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 3,886 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 3,788 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 3,354 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 3,963 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 3,868 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 4,112 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 3,997 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

1999 · 1 incident

September 1, 1999 AL · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Boral Bricks Inc · Fall onto or against objects

EE WAS CLIMBING UP THE LADDER TO THE CAB OF HIS TRUCK. THERE WAS SOME MUD ON A RUNG OF THE LADDER. HIS FOOT SLIPPED AND HE STRUCK HIS KNEE ON LADDER RUNG.