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Middle Splint: 26 MSHA citations Coal

Inmet Mining, LLC · Underground
St. Charles, VA, Lee County, VA  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 4407207

Middle Splint has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 outstanding across 1 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 2008
26
citations
6
significant & substantial
$4,222
proposed penalties
$4,775
paid to date
113% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Inmet Mining, LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
64
inspections on record
539
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: 539 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Middle Splint has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$5K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$151
outstanding
26 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $880 in penalties contested before the Commission, $880 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-11-26.
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.
23.1%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
23.1%
reasonably likely or greater
15.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 19.2% low, 80.8% 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.
5 citations taken to the federal commission · 19% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 20%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 4 · 80%
20%
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 5 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$880 proposed, $880 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 2011-05-20.
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 2011-440 Withdrawal Koutras 2013 $880 → $880
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Middle Splint shows 97% of 29 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: 2011-10-13, 14 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
29
samples
1.61
dust max (mg/m3)
12 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 17 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR17
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)2
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)2

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2011-09-12, 14 years ago
11.1
silica avg (%)
2
samples
15.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2011-09-14, 14 years ago
0%
over PEL
6
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1
  • ELECTRICIAN1
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)1
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Powell Mountain Coal Co Inc 2007 to 2008
  2. Powell Mountain Energy, LLC 2008 to 2022
  3. Inmet Mining, LLC 2022 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)
2023 0
2022 0
2012 0
2011 22 41,232
2010 0
2009 0
2008 0
2007 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Middle Splint sits in Lee County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 1.9% 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.
Lee County, Virginia · Population 22,042
1.9%
Mining share of county employment
$42,269
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
2023 Q3 0 0 0
2023 Q2 0 0 0
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 0 0 0
2012 Q2 0 0 0
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 10,872 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 17,664 13 3 736.0
Show 14 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2011 Q1 707 1 1 1414.4
2010 Q4 0 0 0
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 0 0 0
2009 Q3 0 0 0
2009 Q2 0 0 0
2009 Q1 0 0 0
2008 Q4 0 1 0
2008 Q3 0 0 0
2008 Q2 0 0 0
2008 Q1 0 0 0
2007 Q4 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.