Mining Incidents

Federal Hill Mine: 43 MSHA citations Coal

Beechwood Coal, LLC · Surface
Frostburg, Allegany County, MD  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1800752

Federal Hill Mine has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Federal Hill Mine.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
43
citations
23
significant & substantial
$5,827
proposed penalties
$5,827
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
60
inspections on record
1,158
inspection hours
3.7
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.
43 citations across 1,158 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Federal Hill Mine has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 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.
$6K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
43 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-11-06.
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.
53.5%
significant & substantial
2.3%
high negligence or reckless
53.5%
reasonably likely or greater
2.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 18.6% low, 79.1% moderate, 0.0% high, 2.3% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Federal Hill Mine shows 97% of 125 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: 2019-11-06, 6 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
125
samples
2.79
dust max (mg/m3)
3
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.
103 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 22 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR35
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER28
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR20

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2016-11-30, 9 years ago
10.9
silica avg (%)
5
samples
18.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR3
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR2

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: 2019-11-06, 6 years ago
2%
over PEL
64
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR17
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER17
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE10
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
2019 100% 4
2017 90% 10
2016 91% 22
2015 93% 14
2014 100% 12
2013 100% 5
2012 100% 7
2011 100% 7
2010 100% 10
2009 100% 5
2008 100% 3
2007 100% 10
2006 100% 5
2004 100% 2
2003 100% 4
2002 100% 5
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2016 10.0 2
2015 11.3 1
2014 4.2 1
2007 18.8 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2019 0% 4
2017 0% 4
2016 0% 12
2014 0% 7
2013 0% 5
2011 0% 8
2010 0% 6
2009 17% 6
2007 0% 3
2006 0% 5
2004 0% 2
2003 0% 2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Mountaineer Mining Corporation 2001 to 2011
  2. Beechwood Coal, LLC 2011 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)
2020 1 8,536
2019 2 35,763
2018 0
2017 3 58,722
2016 5 59,550
2015 5 42,348
2014 6 41,813
2013 7 63,680
2012 5 33,343
2011 4
2010 6 35,487
2009 5 33,591
2008 4 28,074
2007 5 56,823
2006 3 9,305
2004 0
2003 2 13,114
2002 2 16,103
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Federal Hill Mine sits in Allegany County, Maryland, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Allegany County, Maryland · Population 67,762
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$57,393
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
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 0 0 0
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2020 Q1 1,252 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 1,252 1 1 798.7
2019 Q3 1,270 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 1,293 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 0 0 0
Show 59 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2018 Q4 0 0 0
2018 Q3 0 0 0
2018 Q2 0 0 0
2018 Q1 0 0 0
2017 Q4 0 0 0
2017 Q3 1,853 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 1,804 2 2 1108.6
2017 Q1 2,571 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 3,132 1 1 319.3
2016 Q3 3,062 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 3,248 1 1 307.9
2016 Q1 3,017 1 1 331.5
2015 Q4 3,906 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 2,903 1 1 344.5
2015 Q2 3,231 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 2,582 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 3,674 2 0 544.4
2014 Q3 3,820 2 0 523.6
2014 Q2 3,777 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 3,151 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 3,223 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 4,842 1 0 206.5
2013 Q2 3,862 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 4,393 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 3,377 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 2,430 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 2,329 2 2 858.7
2012 Q1 3,392 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 3,233 4 4 1237.2
2011 Q2 3,842 6 2 1561.7
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 2,436 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 2,864 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 3,084 3 1 972.8
2010 Q1 2,563 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 3,004 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 2,806 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 2,614 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 2,261 2 1 884.6
2008 Q4 2,409 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,375 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 947 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 2,227 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 2,092 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 2,363 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 1,600 7 3 4375.0
2007 Q1 2,181 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 1,574 1 0 635.3
2004 Q3 0 0 0
2004 Q2 0 0 0
2004 Q1 0 0 0
2003 Q4 995 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 911 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 1,087 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 899 3 1 3337.0
2002 Q4 996 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 953 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 1,076 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 841 2 1 2378.1

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.