Mining Incidents

Bird Refuse Pile: 10 MSHA citations Coal

Tire Hill, Somerset County, PA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 3610406

Bird Refuse Pile has $2K 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
1
Years on record
2024
Latest incident
Dec 2024
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2023
10
citations
0
significant & substantial
$1,500
proposed penalties
$1,500
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2023
9
inspections on record
439
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: 439 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Bird Refuse Pile has $2K 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.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
10 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-12-22.
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.
0.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
0.0%
reasonably likely or greater
10.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 90.0% low, 10.0% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Bird Refuse Pile shows 100% of 83 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: 2026-08-11
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
83
samples
0.23
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.
44 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 39 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR59
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR16
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-05-24
3.5
silica avg (%)
1
samples
3.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1

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: 2025-12-30
0%
over PEL
31
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR15
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR11
  • ROTARY BUCKET EXCAVATOR OPERATOR3
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
2026 100% 19
2025 100% 38
2024 100% 19
2023 100% 7
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2025 0% 24
2024 0% 5
2023 0% 2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Robindale Energy Services, Inc. 2022 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)
2026 10 12,214
2025 9 5,541
2024 5
2023 2
2022 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Bird Refuse Pile sits in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.6% 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.
Somerset County, Pennsylvania · Population 73,255
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$59,378
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 5,522 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 4,942 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 5,146 1 0 194.3
2025 Q3 5,256 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 4,376 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 4,010 1 0 249.4
2024 Q4 1,051 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 995 0 0 0.0
Show 7 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,902 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 2,860 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 1,515 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 941 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,303 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 1,341 1 0 745.7
2022 Q4 606 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2024 · 1 incident

December 17, 2024 PA · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Robindale Energy Services, Inc. · Fall to the walkway or working surface

Employee was walking down a sloped embankment near the fuel tank and slipped due to muddy conditions and fell onto right shoulder. Employee did not miss any scheduled work or receive medical treatment until 1/31/2025, when employee had the shoulder operated on for rotator cuff damage.