Mining Incidents

Black Pit: 25 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Hillyer Inc · Surface
Controlled by William Hillyer Sr
Smithfield, Fulton County, IL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1103103

Black Pit has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
25
citations
2
significant & substantial
$1,730
proposed penalties
$1,730
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
9
inspections on record
148
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: 148 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Black Pit has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 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
25 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $275 in penalties contested before the Commission, $220 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2004-04-14.
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.
8.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
8.0%
reasonably likely or greater
52.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 24.0% low, 76.0% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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
LAKE20030005M Settlement Barbour 2003 $275 → $220
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Hillyer Inc 2002 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2006 0
2005 3
2004 3
2003 4
2002 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Black Pit sits in Fulton County, Illinois, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Fulton County, Illinois · Population 33,259
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$58,617
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
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 0 0 0
2006 Q2 0 0 0
2005 Q4 466 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,018 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 685 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 317 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 338 0 0 0.0
Show 10 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2004 Q3 603 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 655 7 0 10687.0
2004 Q1 272 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 577 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 656 11 2 16768.3
2003 Q2 556 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 357 3 0 8403.4
2002 Q4 746 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 1,054 4 0 3795.1
2002 Q2 682 0 0 0.0

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.