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Hess Creek Surface Mine: 49 MSHA citations Coal

Raven, VA, Russell County, VA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4407244

Hess Creek Surface Mine has $20K in proposed MSHA penalties and $200 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2008
Latest incident
Nov 2008
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
49
citations
15
significant & substantial
$20,006
proposed penalties
$19,466
paid to date
97% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $540 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Knox Creek Coal Corporation's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
7
inspections on record
334
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: 334 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Hess Creek Surface Mine has $20K in proposed MSHA penalties and $200 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.
$20K
proposed penalties
$20K
current assessed
$19K
paid to date
$200
outstanding
49 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $10K in penalties contested before the Commission, $10K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2010-02-23.
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.
30.6%
significant & substantial
4.1%
high negligence or reckless
32.7%
reasonably likely or greater
12.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 12.2% low, 83.7% moderate, 4.1% 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 · 16% 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 6 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
3%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$10K proposed, $10K 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 2010-06-08.
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
VA 2010-215 Dismissal Lesnick 2012 $6K → $6K
VA 2010-420 Dismissal Lesnick 2012 $3K → $3K
VA 2010-257 Settlement Koutras 2011 $1K → $1K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Hess Creek Surface Mine 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: 2009-12-11, 16 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
15
samples
0.51
dust max (mg/m3)
15 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR3
  • GROUNDMAN3

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: 2009-06-02, 17 years ago
11%
over PEL
9
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER3
  • AUGER OPERATOR2
  • GROUNDMAN2
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% 10
2008 100% 5
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2009 0% 5
2008 25% 4
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Hess Creek Surface Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009.

Injury rate, 2009
ⓘ 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 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, coal mining averaged 4.22 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. Knox Creek Coal Corporation 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)
2010 11 8,264
2009 31 191,612
2008 34 43,096
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Hess Creek Surface Mine sits in Russell County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 4.5% 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.
Russell County, Virginia · Population 25,635
4.5%
Mining share of county employment
$49,020
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
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
2010 Q1 8,934 1 1 111.9
2009 Q4 21,490 10 5 465.3
2009 Q3 5,079 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 16,019 10 3 624.3
2009 Q1 25,472 2 0 78.5
2008 Q4 21,021 19 4 903.9
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2008 · 1 incident

November 10, 2008 VA · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Knox Creek Coal Corporation · Struck by falling object

Employee was standing behind the miner head waiting as two members moved the cover onto the shear jack. The new members did not see his hand and dropped the cover on his hand.