Mining Incidents

Gurnee Surface Mine: 5 MSHA citations Coal

Pea Ridge, Shelby County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0103472

Gurnee Surface Mine has $520 in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 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 2014
5
citations
2
significant & substantial
$520
proposed penalties
$520
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2014
9
inspections on record
215
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: 215 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Gurnee Surface Mine has $520 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.
$520
proposed penalties
$520
current assessed
$520
paid to date
$0
outstanding
5 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-05-25.
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.
40.0%
significant & substantial
20.0%
high negligence or reckless
40.0%
reasonably likely or greater
0.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 40.0% low, 40.0% moderate, 20.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Gurnee Surface Mine shows 100% of 57 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: 2016-09-08, 9 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
57
samples
0.54
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.
37 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 20 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR23
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE18
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR9

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2016-09-15, 9 years ago
9.8
silica avg (%)
4
samples
14.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4

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: 2016-01-25, 10 years ago
0%
over PEL
21
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE9
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR5
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5
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
2016 100% 22
2015 100% 26
2014 100% 9
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2016 13.1 2
2015 6.5 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2016 0% 7
2015 0% 7
2014 0% 7
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Gurnee Surface Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2016.

Injury rate, 2016
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 3.79 and the all-US-mining average was 2.59 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 3.64 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
2016 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2015 * 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.
Ownership history
  1. Jesse Creek Mining, LLC 2014 to 2019
  2. Camellia Met Mining, LLC 2019 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)
2017 0
2016 12 88,526
2015 25 138,397
2014 20 107,504
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Gurnee Surface Mine sits in Shelby County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 0.5% 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.
Shelby County, Alabama · Population 226,955
0.5%
Mining share of county employment
$93,543
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
2017 Q4 0 0 0
2017 Q2 0 0 0
2016 Q4 0 0 0
2016 Q3 11,890 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 11,778 1 1 84.9
2016 Q1 13,269 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 27,073 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 22,731 1 0 44.0
Show 5 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q2 26,955 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 11,416 1 0 87.6
2014 Q4 14,638 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 14,883 1 0 67.2
2014 Q2 9,853 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.