Mining Incidents

Job #57: 53 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by James Eric Davidson
Virgie, Pike County, KY  ·  NonProducing
MSHA Mine ID: 1519721

Job #57 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $16K outstanding across 0 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
Sep 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
53
citations
21
significant & substantial
$20,871
proposed penalties
$5,011
paid to date
24% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $15,860 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2014
29
inspections on record
915
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: 915 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Job #57 has $21K in proposed MSHA penalties and $16K outstanding across 0 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
$21K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$16K
outstanding
52 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-06-10.
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.
40.4%
significant & substantial
11.5%
high negligence or reckless
40.4%
reasonably likely or greater
5.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 15.4% low, 73.1% moderate, 9.6% high, 1.9% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Job #57 shows 100% of 53 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: 2020-11-05, 5 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
53
samples
1.00
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.
39 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 14 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR18
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR12
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE7

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2018-12-11, 7 years ago
5.3
silica avg (%)
4
samples
13.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR2
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2

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: 2020-11-05, 5 years ago
6%
over PEL
18
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE4
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER3
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% 2
2019 100% 2
2018 100% 26
2015 100% 4
2014 100% 19
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2020 0% 2
2018 0% 5
2014 9% 11
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Job #57 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2018.

Injury rate, 2018
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 3.34 and the all-US-mining average was 2.33 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 3.81 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
2018 * 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. Premier Elkhorn Coal Company, LLC 2013 to 2020
  2. Virgie Clean Mining 2020 to 2025
  3. Reckoning Reclamation, LLC. 2025 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 0
2019 10 11,888
2018 20 74,532
2017 0
2016 0
2015 2 7,013
2014 15 123,372
2013 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Job #57 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
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 0 0 0
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2020 Q1 0 0 0
2019 Q3 687 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 5,390 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 14,209 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 14,836 7 3 471.8
Show 20 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2018 Q3 15,346 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 12,664 6 6 473.8
2018 Q1 9,047 10 3 1105.3
2017 Q3 0 0 0
2017 Q2 0 0 0
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 0 0 0
2016 Q3 0 0 0
2016 Q2 0 0 0
2016 Q1 0 0 0
2015 Q4 0 0 0
2015 Q3 617 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 1,156 1 0 865.1
2015 Q1 978 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 5,601 6 0 1071.2
2014 Q3 14,624 2 1 136.8
2014 Q2 13,532 3 2 221.7
2014 Q1 3,917 2 0 510.6
2013 Q4 30 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2014 · 1 incident

September 17, 2014 KY · Coal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver POWERED HAULAGE
Premier Elkhorn Coal Company, LLC · Struck against a moving object

Truck driver tried to downshift while going downhill and did not get the truck in gear, then the truck ran down hill and turned over on private property approximately 1000 feet away. The driver bumped his head requiring stitches.