Big Branch #34 has $39K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
4
Years on record
2022–2026
Latest incident
Mar 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2022
76
citations
22
significant & substantial
$39,165
proposed penalties
$35,960
paid to date
92% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,205 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2022
19
inspections on record
1,006
inspection hours
7.6
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.
76 citations across 1,006 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Big Branch #34 has $39K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K 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.
$39K
proposed penalties
$37K
current assessed
$36K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
72 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-22.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
MSHA sampling at Big Branch #34 shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.11 mg/m3 (100% compliant) across 143 samples.
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.
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 Q4
23,201
5
3
215.5
2025 Q3
22,186
0
0
0.0
2025 Q2
26,312
12
5
456.1
2025 Q1
26,603
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
27,633
13
3
470.5
2024 Q3
29,170
0
0
0.0
2024 Q2
25,474
6
2
235.5
2024 Q1
19,337
0
0
0.0
Show 9 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2023 Q4
19,636
5
1
254.6
2023 Q3
18,467
0
0
0.0
2023 Q2
18,876
7
0
370.8
2023 Q1
19,488
0
0
0.0
2022 Q4
17,878
14
4
783.1
2022 Q3
16,026
5
2
312.0
2022 Q2
8,171
2
1
244.8
2022 Q1
4,585
1
0
218.1
2021 Q4
2,460
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
4 on file
2026 · 1 incident
March 30, 2026KY · Coalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techHANDLING OF MATERIALS
Employee was installing a wishbone pin in a 777 when they felt a sharp pain in left shoulder. They stated it felt better as the day went on but throughout the night it started hurting and burning more.
Employee was feeling tightness in the chest and was dizzy. EE was flown to the Medical Center for possible heart attack. It was determined by EE's personal physician that EE had a slight myocardial infraction. EE started missing work on 09/11/2024.
Caterpillar 777F Truck driver claims EE's lower back was injured after a large rock rolled out of the caterpillar 992 loader bucket and jarred EE's truck.
2022 · 1 incident
August 3, 2022KY · Coalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerOTHER
The employee was injured when a contract employee walked up from behind them, wrapped their arms around them and then squeezed them. The employee said they immediately felt like something was wrong. At the end of the shift they went to the doctor to be examined. Employee was diagnosed with a broken rib.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
The full compliance file on Big Branch #34
A dated report covering the 26-year penalty trail, line-item violation pattern, contest and
docket posture, rate-normalized peer benchmark, and full fatality history. Delivered as a PDF
with the underlying data as CSV.