Coal Branch No.1 Mine has $538K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 32 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
5
Years on record
2020–2025
Latest incident
Dec 2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2020
685
citations
120
significant & substantial
$538,031
proposed penalties
$433,270
paid to date
81% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $104,761 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.
685 citations across 5,945 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Coal Branch No.1 Mine has $538K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 32 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.
$538K
proposed penalties
$434K
current assessed
$433K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
669 assessments are final orders; 32 contested dockets.
Of $420K in penalties contested before the Commission, $317K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-16.
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.
400citations taken to the federal commission · 58% of citations on record
Settled
328 · 82%
Stood as issued
72 · 18%
89%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 91 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
29%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$446K proposed, $317K 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 2025-12-22.
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 Coal Branch No.1 Mine shows 100% of 2,146 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: 2025-12-04
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
2,146
samples
2.88
dust max (mg/m3)
6
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.
320 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1,826 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.
Coal Branch No.1 Mine recorded 1.57 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.
1.57
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
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.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2025
1.57
0.00
0.000
2024
0.00
0.00
0.000
2023
0.00
0.00
0.000
2022
1.38
0.00
0.000
2021
2.80
1.40
0.000
2020
1.99
0.00
0.000
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
ⓘCoal production is reported quarterly and lags the current period; the most recent quarters may be incomplete.
Year
Employees
Coal produced (tons)
2026
0
2025
55
199,001
2024
67
281,637
2023
61
227,992
2022
59
305,250
2021
59
367,910
2020
49
191,704
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Coal Branch No.1 Mine sits in Boone County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 10.1% 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.
Boone County, West Virginia · Population 21,312
10.1%
Mining share of county employment
$56,152
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
0
2
0
2026 Q1
0
5
0
2025 Q4
27,287
33
2
1209.4
2025 Q3
35,391
20
1
565.1
2025 Q2
30,548
11
4
360.1
2025 Q1
34,201
18
7
526.3
2024 Q4
34,018
29
4
852.5
2024 Q3
33,585
26
5
774.2
Show 18 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2
55,424
44
12
793.9
2024 Q1
41,212
25
3
606.6
2023 Q4
35,711
24
2
672.1
2023 Q3
43,081
31
5
719.6
2023 Q2
40,612
14
3
344.7
2023 Q1
37,354
32
3
856.7
2022 Q4
33,563
13
3
387.3
2022 Q3
36,101
31
10
858.7
2022 Q2
37,254
35
8
939.5
2022 Q1
37,961
16
1
421.5
2021 Q4
35,919
39
6
1085.8
2021 Q3
34,061
30
6
880.8
2021 Q2
37,473
49
9
1307.6
2021 Q1
35,616
40
8
1123.1
2020 Q4
29,042
30
5
1033.0
2020 Q3
29,054
36
7
1239.1
2020 Q2
29,506
25
4
847.3
2020 Q1
13,142
26
2
1978.4
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
5 on file
2025 · 1 incident
December 3, 2025WV · Coalroof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs)HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Employee stated EE was tightening a bolt on a belt clamp with channel locks, the bolt broke as EE was pulling it towards EE causing EE to hit EE's mouth losing EE's tooth. Employee had a root canal on EE's tooth on 03/16/2026
2022 · 1 incident
December 6, 2022WV · Coallw propman, propman helper, move crew if lw, move-up man, jacksetter, advanceman lw helperHANDLING OF MATERIALS
Rockwell Mining LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
Employee stated EE was at the section tailpiece attempting to remove the water manifold from the waterline using a crib block to strike the manifold when EE's hand slipped mid swing, and EE mashed EE's right middle finger between the crib block and the cut off valve for the bull line.
2021 · 2 incidents
December 27, 2021WV · Coalbull gang foreman, labor foreman, leadman, section foreman, shift bossFALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Employee stated went to retrieve wedges, and started to walk away when a rock dislodged from the roof striking EE in the back, sliding to EE's legs pinning them to mine floor, employee yelled for help. Co-worker arrived first and removed the rock. Employee was brought to surface, transported to Hospital and diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae and continues to be off work.
June 30, 2021WV · Coalroof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs)MACHINERY
Rockwell Mining LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
Employee Stated they had adjusted the drill pot on a DDr13 roof bolter and was watching it while bolt partner raised the drill pot and got the tip of left pinky finger caught between the longarm and the drill pot. Employee got medical treatment on 7/12/21 and was placed on restricted duty.
Employee stated while attempting to remove the cat idler on the operator side it got stuck. When it freed up it fell on employee's right pinky finger smashing it causing employee to receive 2 stitches.