Mining Incidents

Highwall Miner #2: 58 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by David (Michael) Jamison
Parrish, Walker County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1519735

Highwall Miner #2 has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $116 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2014
Latest incident
Nov 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
58
citations
11
significant & substantial
$9,479
proposed penalties
$9,263
paid to date
98% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $216 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2014
24
inspections on record
726
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: 726 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: 2014-11-14.
On record since 2014.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Highwall Miner #2 has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $116 outstanding across 1 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.
$9K
proposed penalties
$9K
current assessed
$9K
paid to date
$116
outstanding
55 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $725 in penalties contested before the Commission, $625 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2017-10-12.
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.
20.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
20.0%
reasonably likely or greater
10.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 12.7% low, 87.3% moderate, 0.0% 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.
4 citations taken to the federal commission · 7% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 100%
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 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
14%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$725 proposed, $625 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 2014-09-16.
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
KENT 2014-0802 Settlement Barbour 2015 $725 → $625
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Highwall Miner #2 shows 100% of 38 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: 2017-10-19, 8 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
38
samples
0.65
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.
38 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER10
  • AUGER OPERATOR9
  • FORKLIFT OPERATOR7

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: 2017-10-19, 8 years ago
0%
over PEL
32
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER7
  • AUGER OPERATOR6
  • FORKLIFT 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
2017 100% 12
2016 100% 8
2015 100% 9
2014 100% 9
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2017 0% 13
2016 0% 9
2015 0% 5
2014 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Highwall Miner #2 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2015.

Injury rate, 2015
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 3.76 and the all-US-mining average was 2.72 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 2.96 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
2015 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2014 * 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. JRC Mining, Inc 2014 to 2018
  2. Cedar Lake Mining, Inc. 2018 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)
2018 3 5,102
2017 3 65,205
2016 5 85,728
2015 10 100,945
2014 14 192,590
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Highwall Miner #2 sits in Walker County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 3.3% 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.
Walker County, Alabama · Population 64,886
3.3%
Mining share of county employment
$54,509
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
2018 Q1 1,713 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 3,184 1 0 314.1
2017 Q3 1,983 6 1 3025.7
2017 Q2 2,529 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 2,432 1 0 411.2
2016 Q4 2,991 1 0 334.3
2016 Q3 4,357 14 2 3213.2
2016 Q2 2,687 0 0 0.0
Show 9 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2016 Q1 2,997 2 0 667.3
2015 Q4 4,315 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 5,266 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 7,562 10 3 1322.4
2015 Q1 8,848 6 3 678.1
2014 Q4 9,936 4 1 402.6
2014 Q3 11,105 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 10,568 3 0 283.9
2014 Q1 5,664 9 1 1589.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2014 · 1 incident

November 14, 2014 AL · Coal FALL OF FACE/RIB/PILLAR/SIDE/HIGHWALL
JRC Mining, Inc · Accident type, without injuries

Highwall set down on the date stated in item 6. The fall was about 50' wide, 5' to 8' thick and 50' high causing some rock to roll over into the roadway.