Caretta Impoundment/Refuse Areas has $16K 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
8
Years on record
1984–2014
Latest incident
May 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
113
citations
22
significant & substantial
$16,405
proposed penalties
$16,405
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
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.
113 citations across 2,305 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Caretta Impoundment/Refuse Areas has $16K 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.
$16K
proposed penalties
$16K
current assessed
$16K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
109 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $118 in penalties contested before the Commission, $118 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-12-03.
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.
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.
1citations taken to the federal commission · 1% of citations on record
Settled
1 · 100%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$118 proposed, $118 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 A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record.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 2018-05-22.
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.
MSHA sampling at Caretta Impoundment/Refuse Areas shows 100% of 138 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: 2026-07-27
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
138
samples
1.38
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.
75 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 63 by the operator.
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.
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.
Caretta Impoundment/Refuse Areas recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘThis rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In West Virginia, coal mining averaged 3.89 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2025 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2024 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2019 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2026
10
2025
10
2024
10
2023
7
2022
6
2021
6
2020
8
2019
11
2018
7
2017
6
2013
0
2012
0
2011
0
2010
0
2009
0
2008
0
2007
0
2006
0
2005
0
2004
0
2003
0
2000
0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Caretta Impoundment/Refuse Areas sits in McDowell County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 13.0% 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.
McDowell County, West Virginia · Population 18,413
13.0%
Mining share of county employment
$29,980
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
5,470
0
0
0.0
2026 Q1
5,886
0
0
0.0
2025 Q4
5,193
1
0
192.6
2025 Q3
5,612
3
0
534.6
2025 Q2
6,313
0
0
0.0
2025 Q1
5,311
1
0
188.3
2024 Q4
6,461
0
0
0.0
2024 Q3
5,834
0
0
0.0
Show 68 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2
5,897
2
0
339.2
2024 Q1
5,469
3
0
548.5
2023 Q4
4,484
0
0
0.0
2023 Q3
3,699
0
0
0.0
2023 Q2
3,190
5
0
1567.4
2023 Q1
3,813
0
0
0.0
2022 Q4
3,765
5
1
1328.0
2022 Q3
2,811
2
0
711.5
2022 Q2
3,135
5
0
1594.9
2022 Q1
4,258
0
0
0.0
2021 Q4
4,967
11
4
2214.6
2021 Q3
2,813
4
0
1422.0
2021 Q2
2,532
1
0
394.9
2020 Q1
3,548
0
0
0.0
2019 Q4
5,297
4
1
755.1
2019 Q3
6,514
4
0
614.1
2019 Q2
5,535
4
0
722.7
2019 Q1
4,870
0
0
0.0
2018 Q4
4,912
1
0
203.6
2018 Q3
3,200
8
0
2500.0
2018 Q2
2,983
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
3,209
1
0
311.6
2017 Q4
3,003
1
0
333.0
2017 Q3
3,000
0
0
0.0
2017 Q2
3,362
8
1
2379.5
2017 Q1
343
0
0
0.0
2013 Q2
0
0
0
2013 Q1
0
0
0
2012 Q4
0
0
0
2012 Q3
0
0
0
2012 Q2
0
0
0
2012 Q1
0
0
0
2011 Q4
0
0
0
2011 Q3
0
0
0
2011 Q1
0
0
0
2010 Q4
0
0
0
2010 Q3
0
0
0
2010 Q2
0
0
0
2010 Q1
0
0
0
2009 Q4
0
0
0
2009 Q3
0
0
0
2009 Q2
0
0
0
2009 Q1
0
0
0
2008 Q4
0
0
0
2008 Q3
0
0
0
2008 Q2
0
0
0
2008 Q1
0
0
0
2007 Q4
0
0
0
2007 Q3
0
0
0
2007 Q2
0
0
0
2007 Q1
0
0
0
2006 Q4
0
0
0
2006 Q3
0
0
0
2006 Q2
0
0
0
2006 Q1
0
0
0
2005 Q4
0
0
0
2005 Q3
0
0
0
2005 Q2
0
0
0
2005 Q1
0
0
0
2004 Q4
0
0
0
2004 Q3
0
0
0
2004 Q2
0
0
0
2004 Q1
0
0
0
2003 Q4
0
0
0
2003 Q3
0
0
0
2003 Q1
0
0
0
2000 Q2
0
0
0
2000 Q1
0
0
0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
8 on file
2014 · 1 incident
May 16, 2014WV · Coalprep plant foreman, supervisor, mill plant supervisor, kiln supervisorSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON