Mining Incidents

Blocker #1: 53 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Blue Creek Stone Inc · Surface
Controlled by Rick D Bumpers
McAlester, Pittsburg County, OK  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3401894

Blocker #1 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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 2005
53
citations
12
significant & substantial
$21,411
proposed penalties
$18,005
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,406 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
30
inspections on record
265
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: 265 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Blocker #1 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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.
$21K
proposed penalties
$18K
current assessed
$18K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
53 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
Of $16K in penalties contested before the Commission, $12K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-09-07.
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.
22.6%
significant & substantial
17.0%
high negligence or reckless
22.6%
reasonably likely or greater
60.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.4% low, 73.6% moderate, 17.0% 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 · 19% of citations on record
  • Settled 6 · 60%
  • Stood as issued 3 · 30%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 10%
88%
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 8 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
22%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$16K proposed, $12K 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 2013-12-23.
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
CENT 2011-1263M Settlement Miller 2012 $12K → $10K
CENT 2011-330M Default Lesnick 2011 $2K → $2K
CENT 2011-348M Settlement Lesnick 2011 $946 → $426
CENT 2010-176M Settlement Lesnick 2010 $807 → $181
CENT 2014-118M Withdrawal Lesnick 2014 $100 → $0
CENT 2006-103M Settlement Manning 2006 $60 → $60
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: 2011-09-22, 14 years ago
67%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
4
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz32 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (4)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2011-08-03 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.94 0.57 3.40 Backhoe Operator
2011-08-03 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.22 0.97 1.26 Front-end Loader Operator
2011-09-22 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.16 0.39 0.41 Crusher Oper/Worker
2011-09-22 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. Blue Creek Stone Inc 2002 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2016 2
2015 2
2014 2
2013 3
2012 3
2011 3
2010 3
2009 4
2008 4
2007 12
2006 19
2005 13
2003 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Blocker #1 sits in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, where the Census mining category is 2.8% 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.
Pittsburg County, Oklahoma · Population 43,629
2.8%
Mining share of county employment
$54,787
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
2016 Q2 583 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 632 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 521 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 519 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 545 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 499 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 506 1 0 1976.3
2014 Q3 467 0 0 0.0
Show 37 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2014 Q2 571 1 0 1751.3
2014 Q1 483 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 347 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 814 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 1,624 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 1,642 2 0 1218.0
2012 Q4 1,593 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 1,650 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 1,556 1 1 642.7
2012 Q1 1,531 4 0 2612.7
2011 Q4 1,575 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,581 4 3 2530.0
2011 Q2 1,598 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 1,366 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 1,650 15 7 9090.9
2010 Q3 1,563 4 0 2559.2
2010 Q2 1,431 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1,688 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 2,787 2 0 717.6
2009 Q3 1,169 1 0 855.4
2009 Q2 2,120 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 2,220 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,021 5 1 4897.2
2008 Q3 901 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 640 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 480 1 0 2083.3
2007 Q4 352 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 1,152 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 3,134 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 2,528 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 8,763 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 2,546 2 0 785.5
2006 Q1 5,240 1 0 190.8
2005 Q4 7,250 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 5,590 7 0 1252.2
2003 Q2 0 0 0
2003 Q1 216 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.