Mining Incidents

Hubble No. 7: 134 MSHA citations Coal

Hubble Mining Co. LLC · Underground
Rockhouse, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1519266

Hubble No. 7 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 18 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
4
Years on record
2010–2015
Latest incident
Jul 2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
134
citations
31
significant & substantial
$20,632
proposed penalties
$17,339
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,293 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
55
inspections on record
2,013
inspection hours
6.7
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.
134 citations across 2,013 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Hubble No. 7 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 18 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.
$21K
proposed penalties
$19K
current assessed
$17K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
132 assessments are final orders; 18 contested dockets.
Of $14K in penalties contested before the Commission, $8K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-10-07.
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.
23.5%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
23.5%
reasonably likely or greater
1.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 10.6% low, 89.4% 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.
37 citations taken to the federal commission · 28% of citations on record
  • Settled 35 · 95%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 3%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 3%
96%
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 23 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$14K proposed, $8K 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 2013-11-26.
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 2010-505 Vacate Gill 2013 $4K → $0
KENT 2012-63 Settlement Lesnick 2012 $2K → $1K
KENT 2012-711 Settlement Lesnick 2013 $924 → $693
KENT 2012-474 Settlement Lesnick 2012 $900 → $900
KENT 2011-124 Settlement Lesnick 2011 $870 → $609
KENT 2011-1077 Settlement Tureck 2012 $729 → $546
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Hubble No. 7 shows 90% of 149 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: 2012-02-22, 14 years ago
90%
within 1.5 mg/m3
149
samples
9.02
dust max (mg/m3)
79 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 70 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR72
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)23
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)14

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2012-02-29, 14 years ago
5.3
silica avg (%)
8
samples
6.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER 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: 2011-11-28, 14 years ago
0%
over PEL
19
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)6
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)3
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
2012 83% 23
2011 93% 67
2010 90% 59
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2012 5.7 2
2011 5.9 1
2010 5.1 5
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2011 0% 7
2010 0% 12
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Hubble No. 7 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2011.

Injury rate, 2011
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 3.83 and the all-US-mining average was 3.08 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.28 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
2011 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2010 * 17.29 17.29 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. P B Dirt Movers Inc 2008 to 2010
  2. Hubble Mining Co. LLC 2009 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)
2015 1
2014 1
2013 2
2012 15 23,673
2011 19 89,970
2010 11 28,768
2009 1 4,981
2008 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Hubble No. 7 sits in Pike County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 5.1% 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.
Pike County, Kentucky · Population 57,466
5.1%
Mining share of county employment
$42,179
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
2015 Q4 606 1 0 1650.2
2015 Q3 567 1 0 1763.7
2015 Q2 535 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 501 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 609 2 0 3284.1
2014 Q3 652 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 361 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 235 1 0 4255.3
Show 20 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2013 Q4 585 1 0 1709.4
2013 Q3 2,067 4 1 1935.2
2013 Q2 634 2 0 3154.6
2013 Q1 1,023 2 1 1955.0
2012 Q2 0 3 0
2012 Q1 17,285 18 5 1041.4
2011 Q4 18,429 20 0 1085.2
2011 Q3 11,574 6 4 518.4
2011 Q2 10,034 8 1 797.3
2011 Q1 7,903 11 5 1391.9
2010 Q4 8,338 8 2 959.5
2010 Q3 8,347 8 3 958.4
2010 Q2 4,629 16 5 3456.5
2010 Q1 1,824 1 1 548.2
2009 Q4 0 2 0
2009 Q3 0 0 0
2009 Q2 0 0 0
2009 Q1 199 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 2,200 3 0 1363.6
2008 Q3 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

4 on file

2015 · 1 incident

July 13, 2015 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Hubble Mining Co. LLC · Accident type, without injuries

Found roof fall in the 5th entry approx. 4000ft from the face. Fall occurred in the intersection 20 wide 20 long 5 ft thick. This is active nonproducing status. No coal is being produce at this mine. No one was in the mine when the fall occurred.

2010 · 3 incidents

August 10, 2010 KY · Coal continuous miner operator, coal mole operator FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Hubble Mining Co. LLC · Struck by falling object

Operator was standing behind miner running coal and a piece of roof fell on his left foot.

July 1, 2010 KY · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Hubble Mining Co. LLC · Struck by falling object

Bolter sat up to bolt break and a piece of rock 2' long X 1' wide X1-3" thick fell between the canopy hitting operator on his right foot.

May 26, 2010 KY · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Hubble Mining Co. LLC · Accident type, without injuries

Section of the roof gave way in an intersection at the first break inside the mine. It was about 5' thick X 18' w X 20' L. This mine is just getting first line of breaks cut through.