Mining Incidents

LAUREL PLANT: 98 MSHA citations Coal

LAUREL PREP PLANT LLC · Facility
Central City, Somerset County, PA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 3609975

LAUREL PLANT has $17K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at LAUREL PLANT.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2018
98
citations
12
significant & substantial
$16,818
proposed penalties
$16,818
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2018
42
inspections on record
1,294
inspection hours
7.6
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.
98 citations across 1,294 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

LAUREL PLANT has $17K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$17K
proposed penalties
$17K
current assessed
$17K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
92 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-13.
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.
12.2%
significant & substantial
5.1%
high negligence or reckless
13.3%
reasonably likely or greater
38.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 39.8% low, 55.1% moderate, 5.1% 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 · 1% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 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%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $2K 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 2021-12-21.
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
PENN 2022-0026 Default 2022 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at LAUREL PLANT shows 99% of 186 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: 2026-08-03
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
186
samples
3.46
dust max (mg/m3)
1
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.
109 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 77 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR74
  • UTILITY MAN33
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER21

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-04-15
2.4
silica avg (%)
21
samples
14.7
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CLEANING PLANT OPERATOR7
  • LABORER/BLACKSMITH7
  • UTILITY MAN4

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: 2026-04-13
4%
over PEL
57
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR12
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE11
  • UTILITY MAN9
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
2026 100% 13
2025 100% 26
2024 100% 37
2023 100% 25
2022 97% 32
2021 96% 23
2020 100% 13
2019 100% 14
2018 100% 3
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2026 1
2025 3.5 4
2024 1.3 5
2023 0.3 5
2022 1.5 3
2021 0.4 1
2020 1.0 1
2018 14.7 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2026 0% 9
2024 0% 18
2023 0% 7
2022 0% 8
2021 25% 4
2019 10% 10
2018 0% 1
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

LAUREL PLANT 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
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 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Pennsylvania, coal mining averaged 2.63 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 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 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. LCT Energy, LP 2017 to 2022
  2. Laurel Prep Plant LLC 2022 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 18
2025 18
2024 19
2023 15
2022 12
2021 11
2020 10
2019 8
2018 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

LAUREL PLANT sits in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.6% 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.
Somerset County, Pennsylvania · Population 73,255
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$59,378
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 10,648 2 0 187.8
2026 Q1 10,331 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 9,937 1 0 100.6
2025 Q3 10,062 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 10,421 8 0 767.7
2025 Q1 9,954 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 10,554 3 0 284.3
2024 Q3 11,160 5 0 448.0
Show 24 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 10,410 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 11,541 3 0 259.9
2023 Q4 9,975 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 9,526 5 1 524.9
2023 Q2 8,792 9 0 1023.7
2023 Q1 7,797 7 2 897.8
2022 Q4 6,997 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 7,375 1 0 135.6
2022 Q2 7,264 3 0 413.0
2022 Q1 6,839 2 1 292.4
2021 Q4 6,285 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 6,371 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 5,995 4 1 667.2
2021 Q1 5,977 4 0 669.2
2020 Q4 6,134 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 5,409 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 5,932 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 6,633 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 6,414 7 1 1091.4
2019 Q3 5,938 3 1 505.2
2019 Q2 4,293 3 0 698.8
2019 Q1 2,218 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,169 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 214 2 0 9345.8

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.