Mining Incidents

Harmer Refuge Site: 10 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Brenda L Krevel
Harmerville, Allegheny County, PA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3610128

Harmer Refuge Site has $978 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 2015
10
citations
0
significant & substantial
$978
proposed penalties
$978
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2015
10
inspections on record
175
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: 175 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Harmer Refuge Site has $978 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.
$978
proposed penalties
$978
current assessed
$978
paid to date
$0
outstanding
9 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2017-02-23.
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.
0.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
0.0%
reasonably likely or greater
11.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 11.1% low, 88.9% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Harmer Refuge Site shows 100% of 15 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: 2017-05-22, 9 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
15
samples
0.29
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.
14 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE3
  • BACKHOE 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: 2017-02-22, 9 years ago
0%
over PEL
10
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER5
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR2
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE2
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
2017 100% 4
2016 100% 5
2015 100% 6
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2017 0% 3
2016 0% 4
2015 0% 3
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Ridge Energy Company Inc 2015 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2017 2
2016 3
2015 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Harmer Refuge Site sits in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania · Population 1,240,476
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$76,393
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
2017 Q2 301 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 1,295 2 0 1544.4
2016 Q4 1,008 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 832 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 1,401 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 1,576 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 1,161 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 1,642 0 0 0.0
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q2 1,251 3 0 2398.1
2015 Q1 1,250 1 0 800.0

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.