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James River Slate Company Inc: 69 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Craig E Markcrow
Arvonia, Buckingham County, VA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4407307

James River Slate Company Inc has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
6
Years on record
2013–2023
Latest incident
Aug 2023
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2013
69
citations
21
significant & substantial
$23,215
proposed penalties
$19,796
paid to date
85% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,419 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See James River Slate Company Inc's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2013
46
inspections on record
858
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: 858 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

James River Slate Company Inc has $23K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K 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.
$23K
proposed penalties
$21K
current assessed
$20K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
68 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $5K in penalties contested before the Commission, $3K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-02.
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.
30.4%
significant & substantial
11.6%
high negligence or reckless
30.4%
reasonably likely or greater
56.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.7% low, 79.7% moderate, 11.6% 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.
5 citations taken to the federal commission · 7% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 80%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 20%
50%
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 4 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
39%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$5K proposed, $3K 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 2018-01-30.
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 2018-0060 Settlement McCarthy 2018 $5K → $3K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘ Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2026-05-27
23%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
26
samples
13
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz133 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg13
Show the individual readings (26)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2025-03-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.22 0.77 1.58 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2018-01-17 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.8 0.67 1.19 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2017-11-21 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.22 0.65 1.88 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2026-05-27 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2026-05-27 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2026-05-27 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2026-05-27 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Utility Man
2025-05-06 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2025-03-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.39 0.57 0.68 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2025-03-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.22 0.79 0.28 Bulldozer Operator
2023-09-18 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.3 0.73 0.41 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2023-09-18 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.34 0.69 0.49 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2023-09-18 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2021-11-23 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Utility Man
2021-11-23 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.5 1.19 0.42 Utility Man
2021-11-23 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Utility Man
2021-11-23 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.28 0.32 0.88 Utility Man
2017-11-21 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Drill Helper
2017-11-21 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2017-11-21 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2017-11-21 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2013-09-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2013-09-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.28 0.49 0.57 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2013-09-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.19 0.39 0.49 Utility Man
2013-09-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.14 0.4 0.35 Truck Driver
2013-09-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.22 0.4 0.55 Stone Polisher/Cutter

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2025-05-06
1
samples
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Area sampled
2025-05-06 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 MP GRINDING
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.

James River Slate Company Inc recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.

Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ 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 metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 1.37 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 * 7.73 7.73 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2017 * 6.11 6.11 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. James River Slate Company Inc 2013 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 11
2025 12
2024 14
2023 13
2022 13
2021 13
2020 12
2019 13
2018 15
2017 16
2016 18
2015 18
2014 14
2013 9
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

James River Slate Company Inc sits in Buckingham County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 1.1% 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.
Buckingham County, Virginia · Population 16,914
1.1%
Mining share of county employment
$59,199
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
2026 Q2 5,528 2 0 361.8
2026 Q1 4,788 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 5,822 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 5,690 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 6,521 2 1 306.7
2025 Q1 5,211 1 0 191.9
2024 Q4 5,336 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 5,336 2 0 374.8
Show 44 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 6,612 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 6,951 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 6,472 2 0 309.0
2023 Q3 6,819 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 7,364 4 1 543.2
2023 Q1 5,234 1 0 191.1
2022 Q4 5,712 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 6,075 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 6,916 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 6,115 3 0 490.6
2021 Q3 6,409 1 0 156.0
2021 Q2 5,569 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 4,795 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 5,328 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 4,721 1 0 211.8
2020 Q2 5,496 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 4,517 1 0 221.4
2019 Q4 4,672 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 4,368 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 5,759 3 1 520.9
2019 Q1 6,039 7 2 1159.1
2018 Q4 5,837 2 0 342.6
2018 Q3 5,768 1 1 173.4
2018 Q2 5,957 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 6,130 2 1 326.3
2017 Q4 7,110 7 4 984.5
2017 Q3 7,199 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 7,968 1 1 125.5
2017 Q1 10,438 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 8,625 9 1 1043.5
2016 Q3 7,528 6 3 797.0
2016 Q2 8,944 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 2,882 5 4 1734.9
2015 Q4 11,274 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 9,479 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 7,683 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 7,146 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 8,150 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 6,604 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 6,860 1 0 145.8
2014 Q1 6,816 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 7,422 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 4,625 2 0 432.4
2013 Q2 960 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

6 on file

2023 · 1 incident

August 17, 2023 VA · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator MACHINERY
James River Slate Company Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

EE's right hand was cut deeply by trimming saw and EE lost most of three fingers on right hand.

2017 · 1 incident

April 26, 2017 VA · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
James River Slate Company Inc · Over-exertion in wielding or throwing objects

Employee was busting rock and felt a pain in shoulder, the next day, back started hurting.

2016 · 3 incidents

September 28, 2016 VA · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
James River Slate Company Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Cut on left arm from a piece of slate

2013 · 1 incident

November 7, 2013 VA · Metal/Non-Metal ledgeman/hand, quarry man DISORDERS (REPEATED TRAUMA)
James River Slate Company Inc · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

I do not have any information about an 'accident' occurring. Employee notified employer that it was a work related injury on January 14, 2014. He was diagnosed with trigger finger on his right hand.