Mining Incidents

Long Branch Road Job: 44 MSHA citations Coal

Whymore Coal Company Incorporated · Surface
Controlled by Edward Tincher
Wooten, Leslie County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1519036

Long Branch Road Job has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 2 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 2007
44
citations
6
significant & substantial
$9,029
proposed penalties
$8,132
paid to date
90% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $897 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
7
inspections on record
322
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: 322 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Long Branch Road Job has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 2 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.
$9K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
44 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $4K in penalties contested before the Commission, $3K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2008-10-27.
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.
13.6%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
13.6%
reasonably likely or greater
0.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 13.6% low, 86.4% 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.
10 citations taken to the federal commission · 23% of citations on record
  • Settled 10 · 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 3 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
25%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$4K 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 2008-12-23.
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 2009-439 Settlement Lesnick 2009 $2K → $1K
KENT 2009-440 Settlement Lesnick 2009 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Long Branch Road Job shows 94% of 35 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: 2008-11-24, 17 years ago
94%
within 1.5 mg/m3
35
samples
2.26
dust max (mg/m3)
25 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 10 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR17
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE7
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER5

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2007-12-04, 18 years ago
0.4
silica avg (%)
1
samples
0.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1

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: 2008-04-16, 18 years ago
0%
over PEL
20
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE7
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR6
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4
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
2008 95% 19
2007 94% 16
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2008 0% 5
2007 0% 15
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Long Branch Road Job recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2008.

Injury rate, 2008
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 4.41 and the all-US-mining average was 3.61 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.87 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
2008 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2007 * 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. Whymore Coal Company Incorporated 2006 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)
2009 0
2008 39 203,001
2007 37 220,494
2006 31 31,569
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Long Branch Road Job sits in Leslie County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 10.6% 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.
Leslie County, Kentucky · Population 10,261
10.6%
Mining share of county employment
$40,176
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
2009 Q3 0 0 0
2009 Q2 0 0 0
2008 Q4 17,476 10 3 572.2
2008 Q3 24,140 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 27,342 9 0 329.2
2008 Q1 25,236 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 23,462 4 2 170.5
2007 Q3 23,946 11 1 459.4
Show 3 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2007 Q2 20,540 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 20,630 10 0 484.7
2006 Q4 16,830 0 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.