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Horse Creek Mine 2: 451 MSHA citations Coal

Rayco, LLC · Underground
Controlled by Brandon Bishop
Panther, Mcdowell County, WV  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 4609340

Horse Creek Mine 2 has $422K in proposed MSHA penalties and $417K outstanding across 8 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 2012
451
citations
121
significant & substantial
$422,415
proposed penalties
$2,845
paid to date
1% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $419,570 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Rayco, LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
51
inspections on record
2,188
inspection hours
20.6
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.
451 citations across 2,188 inspection hours.
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: 2013-08-01.
On record since 2013.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Horse Creek Mine 2 has $422K in proposed MSHA penalties and $417K outstanding across 8 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.
$422K
proposed penalties
$420K
current assessed
$3K
paid to date
$417K
outstanding
439 assessments are final orders; 8 contested dockets.
Of $14K in penalties contested before the Commission, $12K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-10-23.
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.
27.5%
significant & substantial
12.3%
high negligence or reckless
27.5%
reasonably likely or greater
43.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 22.5% low, 65.0% moderate, 12.3% 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.
65 citations taken to the federal commission · 14% of citations on record
  • Settled 34 · 52%
  • Stood as issued 25 · 38%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 6 · 9%
72%
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 18 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$49K proposed, $28K 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 2019-08-22.
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
WEVA 2013-78 Settlement Miller 2013 $4K → $3K
WEVA 2019-0657 Default 2019 $4K → $4K
WEVA 2013-79 Settlement Lesnick 2013 $3K → $2K
WEVA 2013-213 Settlement Simonton 2013 $2K → $1K
WEVA 2013-214 Settlement Simonton 2013 $600 → $600
WEVA 2017-0131 Default Lesnick 2017 $469 → $469
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Horse Creek Mine 2 shows 95% of 114 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: 2019-10-24, 6 years ago
95%
within 1.5 mg/m3
114
samples
2.82
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.
73 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 41 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR48
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)13
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)11

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2019-11-05, 6 years ago
4.6
silica avg (%)
13
samples
7.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR6
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2019-10-24, 6 years ago
5%
over PEL
19
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)3
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)3
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
2019 100% 28
2018 100% 13
2013 90% 49
2012 96% 24
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2019 4.6 7
2018 5.5 2
2013 4.0 3
2012 4.7 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2019 0% 9
2012 10% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Erun Coal Sales Inc 2009 to 2010
  2. JJ&E Coal Corporation 2010 to 2014
  3. Fool's Gold Energy Corporation 2014 to 2014
  4. Erun Coal Sales Inc. 2014 to 2017
  5. B & C Mining, Inc. 2017 to 2018
  6. Rayco, LLC 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)
2019 7 24,390
2018 6 9,518
2017 5 1,039
2013 6 9,207
2012 4 15,599
2011 0
2010 0 179
2009 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Horse Creek Mine 2 sits in McDowell County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 13.0% 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.
McDowell County, West Virginia · Population 18,413
13.0%
Mining share of county employment
$29,980
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
2019 Q4 3,000 14 0 4666.7
2019 Q3 2,885 4 0 1386.5
2019 Q2 1,820 17 4 9340.7
2018 Q4 1,800 11 2 6111.1
2018 Q2 3,325 19 2 5714.3
2018 Q1 2,928 7 1 2390.7
2017 Q4 1,080 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 1,697 49 14 28874.5
Show 12 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2012 Q4 1,760 36 11 20454.5
2012 Q3 408 40 8 98039.2
2012 Q2 1,140 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q3 0 0 0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 0 0 0
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 40 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 0 0 0
2009 Q3 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.