Mining Incidents

Hilsmeyer Mine: 42 MSHA citations Coal

Stendal, Dubois County, IN  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1202425

Hilsmeyer Mine has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $150 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
Aug 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
42
citations
12
significant & substantial
$8,669
proposed penalties
$8,132
paid to date
94% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $537 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2010
39
inspections on record
745
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: 745 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: 2017-07-25.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Hilsmeyer Mine has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $150 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
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$150
outstanding
41 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2020-02-27.
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.
29.3%
significant & substantial
7.3%
high negligence or reckless
29.3%
reasonably likely or greater
31.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 22.0% low, 70.7% moderate, 7.3% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 2% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 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%
25%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $1K 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 2017-10-05.
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
LAKE 2018-0010 Settlement Feldman 2018 $2K → $1K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Hilsmeyer Mine shows 100% of 111 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: 2020-06-29, 6 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
111
samples
1.05
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.
67 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 44 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR52
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR21
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER17

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2019-08-19, 7 years ago
13.5
silica avg (%)
12
samples
29.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR9
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR3

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: 2018-10-04, 7 years ago
0%
over PEL
33
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR12
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8
  • COAL TRUCK DRIVER5
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
2020 100% 1
2019 100% 18
2018 100% 26
2017 100% 22
2016 100% 15
2015 100% 23
2014 100% 6
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2019 17.2 2
2018 10.0 3
2017 10.7 3
2016 13.0 3
2015 25.9 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2018 0% 10
2017 0% 5
2016 0% 3
2015 0% 10
2014 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Hilsmeyer Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2019.

Injury rate, 2019
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
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
In Indiana, coal mining averaged 3.00 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
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2017 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2015 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2014 * 6.89 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. Little Sandy Coal Company, Inc. 2009 to 2013
  2. Loudermilk Contracting Inc. 2013 to 2014
  3. Sun Energy Group, LLC 2014 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 11 2,018
2019 15 117,172
2018 17 156,361
2017 12 117,568
2016 11 75,536
2015 19 187,455
2014 15 178,354
2012 0
2011 0
2010 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Hilsmeyer Mine sits in Dubois County, Indiana, 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.
Dubois County, Indiana · Population 43,563
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$71,918
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 Q1 1,110 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 6,649 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 6,415 5 1 779.4
2019 Q2 8,493 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 9,591 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 8,108 2 2 246.7
2018 Q3 7,184 3 1 417.6
2018 Q2 8,181 0 0 0.0
Show 27 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2018 Q1 8,225 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 7,221 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 5,940 10 3 1683.5
2017 Q2 9,083 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 8,083 2 1 247.4
2016 Q4 4,768 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 4,861 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 4,368 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 5,844 2 1 342.2
2015 Q4 12,264 6 1 489.2
2015 Q3 14,118 1 0 70.8
2015 Q2 11,109 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 10,436 4 0 383.3
2014 Q4 9,755 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 9,514 2 0 210.2
2014 Q2 9,193 1 0 108.8
2014 Q1 569 1 0 1757.5
2012 Q3 0 0 0
2012 Q2 0 0 0
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 0 0 0
2011 Q3 0 0 0
2011 Q2 0 0 0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 0 0 0
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2014 · 1 incident

August 19, 2014 IN · Coal greaser, grease man, oiler, lube man, dragline oiler HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Loudermilk Contracting Inc. · Struck by falling object

Mechanic was working on lube truck at mine. When removing axle mechanic dropped the axle on his hand pinching it between ground and axle briefly. The skin on hand did not break but hand was is pain so mechanic was taken to hospital. Hospital found no breaks or other injuries