Mining Incidents

CW Falls & Silverdale: 53 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Higgins Ranch, LLC · Surface
Controlled by Michael W Higgins
Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, KS  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1401652

CW Falls & Silverdale has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 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 2007
53
citations
11
significant & substantial
$7,044
proposed penalties
$7,027
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $17 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
33
inspections on record
251
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: 251 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2017-08-30.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

CW Falls & Silverdale has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
52 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $1K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-09-09.
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.
21.2%
significant & substantial
11.5%
high negligence or reckless
21.2%
reasonably likely or greater
36.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 7.7% low, 80.8% moderate, 11.5% 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.
8 citations taken to the federal commission · 15% of citations on record
  • Settled 3 · 38%
  • Stood as issued 5 · 63%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
1%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1K proposed, $1K 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 2018-03-27.
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 2018-0056 Default Lesnick 2018 $803 → $803
CENT 2014-31M Settlement Lesnick 2014 $217 → $200
CENT 2018-0241 Settlement Simonton 2018 $118 → $118
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: 2011-03-16, 15 years ago
1
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2011-03-16 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe 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. Higgins Ranch 2005 to 2011
  2. Higgins Ranch, LLC 2011 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2023 3
2022 2
2021 2
2020 3
2019 2
2018 4
2017 2
2016 3
2015 3
2014 2
2013 2
2012 4
2011 4
2010 4
2009 3
2008 3
2007 1
2006 1
2005 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

CW Falls & Silverdale sits in Chase County, Kansas, where the Census mining category is 2.9% 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.
Chase County, Kansas · Population 2,579
2.9%
Mining share of county employment
$54,518
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
2023 Q3 316 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 361 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 214 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 505 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 225 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 82 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 190 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 89 0 0 0.0
Show 62 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2021 Q2 117 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 207 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 239 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 340 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2020 Q1 165 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 109 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 250 1 0 4000.0
2019 Q2 158 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 155 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 572 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 568 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 927 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 265 1 0 3773.6
2017 Q4 828 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 746 10 1 13404.8
2017 Q2 540 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 850 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,286 2 1 1555.2
2016 Q3 1,625 1 1 615.4
2016 Q2 1,228 3 0 2443.0
2016 Q1 1,235 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 1,643 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 1,941 4 1 2060.8
2015 Q2 2,007 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 595 4 0 6722.7
2014 Q4 585 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 624 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 754 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 1,045 2 1 1913.9
2013 Q4 1,132 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 972 9 2 9259.3
2013 Q2 1,152 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 618 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 1,694 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 1,751 3 2 1713.3
2012 Q2 1,476 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 1,090 1 0 917.4
2011 Q4 626 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,516 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 1,027 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 540 2 0 3703.7
2010 Q4 150 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 319 1 0 3134.8
2010 Q2 191 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 180 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 59 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 80 5 0 62500.0
2009 Q2 985 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1,315 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,386 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 1,470 1 0 680.3
2008 Q2 1,176 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 255 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 96 3 2 31250.0
2007 Q2 192 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 288 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 16 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 0 0 0
2005 Q4 248 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.