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Copperhead No. 1: 156 MSHA citations Coal

Richmond Works, Inc. · Underground
Controlled by Timothy Lester
Itmann, Wyoming County, WV  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 4608897

Copperhead No. 1 has $29K in proposed MSHA penalties and $20K outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
4
Years on record
2003–2008
Latest incident
Apr 2008
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
156
citations
39
significant & substantial
$29,445
proposed penalties
$9,158
paid to date
31% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $20,287 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Richmond Works, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
59
inspections on record
1,811
inspection hours
8.6
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.
156 citations across 1,811 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Copperhead No. 1 has $29K in proposed MSHA penalties and $20K outstanding across 2 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.
$29K
proposed penalties
$29K
current assessed
$9K
paid to date
$20K
outstanding
154 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $17K in penalties contested before the Commission, $17K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2008-12-30.
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.
25.3%
significant & substantial
4.5%
high negligence or reckless
26.0%
reasonably likely or greater
18.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 1.3% none, 38.3% low, 55.8% moderate, 4.5% 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.
9 citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 9 · 100%
100%
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 7 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$17K proposed, $17K 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 2009-03-19.
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
WEVA 2009-988 Default Lesnick 2010 $14K → $14K
WEVA 2009-989 Default Lesnick 2010 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Copperhead No. 1 shows 97% of 234 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: 2009-01-28, 17 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
234
samples
3.40
dust max (mg/m3)
113 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 121 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR117
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR41
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)19

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-01-08, 17 years ago
5.8
silica avg (%)
12
samples
19.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR10
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2005-08-15, 21 years ago
20%
over PEL
20
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR8
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)4
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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
2009 100% 6
2008 96% 28
2007 80% 10
2006 71% 14
2005 98% 60
2004 100% 61
2003 100% 55
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2008 2.2 4
2007 9.1 3
2005 9.3 3
2004 2.0 1
2003 3.4 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2005 0% 10
2004 40% 5
2003 40% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Copperhead No. 1 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2003.

Injury rate, 2003
ⓘ 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 5.87 and the all-US-mining average was 4.43 cases per 100 workers.
In West Virginia, coal mining averaged 7.76 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.
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.
Ownership history
  1. Century Energy Corp 2001 to 2002
  2. C.R.W. Coals, Inc. 2002 to 2006
  3. Treasure Coast Coal, LLC. 2006 to 2007
  4. Glow Worm Coal Company 2007 to 2008
  5. Richmond Works, Inc. 2008 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)
2009 3 7,100
2008 6 3,377
2006 11 327
2005 9 24,378
2004 9 34,629
2003 12 45,187
2002 2 2,212
2001 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Copperhead No. 1 sits in Wyoming County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 11.2% 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.
Wyoming County, West Virginia · Population 20,948
11.2%
Mining share of county employment
$48,038
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
2009 Q2 0 0 0
2009 Q1 3,380 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 2,250 20 8 8888.9
2006 Q1 1,500 5 3 3333.3
2005 Q4 4,105 2 0 487.2
2005 Q3 4,189 2 0 477.4
2005 Q2 4,062 1 0 246.2
2005 Q1 4,427 1 0 225.9
Show 13 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2004 Q4 4,384 3 0 684.3
2004 Q3 4,134 5 2 1209.5
2004 Q2 1,424 6 2 4213.5
2004 Q1 5,713 7 0 1225.3
2003 Q4 7,507 6 2 799.3
2003 Q3 7,200 4 1 555.6
2003 Q2 6,843 8 1 1169.1
2003 Q1 4,288 6 2 1399.3
2002 Q4 3,577 5 1 1397.8
2002 Q3 0 0 0
2002 Q2 0 0 0
2002 Q1 0 0 0
2001 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

4 on file

2008 · 2 incidents

April 14, 2008 WV · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Glow Worm Coal Company · Accident type, without injuries

An unintentional roof fall occured in the #2 entry. Approximatly 100 feet out by the fall the fall was above bolts average. No one was injured on this occurence.

January 9, 2008 WV · Coal INUNDATION
Glow Worm Coal Company · Accident type, without injuries

Upon mining the #2 heading. The mining machine cut into an auger hole. The auger hole was determined to contain no water or gasses. No auger holes were projected on mine maps. No injrues occured as a result.

2005 · 1 incident

2003 · 1 incident

June 17, 2003 WV · Coal
C.R.W. Coals, Inc. · -

PUSHING UP ROOF BOLT WITH WRENCH, THE WRENCH SLIPPED AND STRUCK EE ON HEAD.