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Mine #16: 156 MSHA citations Coal

Dana, Floyd County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1519127

Mine #16 has $51K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 12 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
3
Years on record
2007–2009
Latest incident
Jan 2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2007
156
citations
46
significant & substantial
$50,729
proposed penalties
$34,169
paid to date
67% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $16,560 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See South Akers Mining Company LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
27
inspections on record
1,270
inspection hours
12.3
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.
156 citations across 1,270 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Mine #16 has $51K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 12 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.
$51K
proposed penalties
$34K
current assessed
$34K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
150 assessments are final orders; 12 contested dockets.
Of $38K in penalties contested before the Commission, $21K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2009-08-24.
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.
30.7%
significant & substantial
5.3%
high negligence or reckless
31.3%
reasonably likely or greater
7.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 12.0% low, 82.7% moderate, 5.3% 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.
57 citations taken to the federal commission · 37% of citations on record
  • Settled 56 · 98%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 2%
90%
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 31 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
45%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$38K proposed, $21K 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 2009-06-24.
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 2009-834 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $9K → $4K
KENT 2009-945 Settlement Lesnick 2009 $7K → $363
KENT 2009-457 Settlement Feldman 2010 $7K → $5K
KENT 2009-1235 Settlement Weisberger 2010 $3K → $2K
KENT 2009-946 Settlement Feldman 2010 $3K → $2K
KENT 2009-93 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $3K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Mine #16 shows 91% of 155 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: 2009-04-29, 17 years ago
91%
within 1.5 mg/m3
155
samples
4.59
dust max (mg/m3)
69 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 86 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR90
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)19
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-05-12, 17 years ago
4.8
silica avg (%)
12
samples
11.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR11
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: 2009-08-24, 17 years ago
0%
over PEL
13
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)3
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR2
  • ELECTRICIAN2
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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
2009 86% 56
2008 96% 83
2007 81% 16
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2009 5.7 6
2008 4.1 4
2007 3.5 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2009 0% 3
2008 0% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Mine #16 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009.

Injury rate, 2009
ⓘ 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 coal mining average was 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 5.04 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
2009 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2008 * 2.64 2.64 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. South Akers Mining Company LLC 2007 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)
2010 0
2009 13 83,164
2008 36 191,370
2007 18 34,452
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Mine #16 sits in Floyd County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 4.4% 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.
Floyd County, Kentucky · Population 35,342
4.4%
Mining share of county employment
$41,582
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
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 0 0 0
2009 Q3 1,846 3 0 1625.1
2009 Q2 9,481 12 5 1265.7
2009 Q1 25,048 21 7 838.4
2008 Q4 21,242 31 11 1459.4
2008 Q3 17,119 18 4 1051.5
2008 Q2 19,533 28 6 1433.5
Show 3 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2008 Q1 17,842 12 2 672.6
2007 Q4 10,714 9 3 840.0
2007 Q3 3,163 18 8 5690.8
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

3 on file

2009 · 1 incident

January 7, 2009 KY · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler OTHER
South Akers Mining Company LLC · Unclassified, insufficient data

Employee says he was injured on job. We contest this. Action has been turned over to lawyers.

2008 · 1 incident

June 3, 2008 KY · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) POWERED HAULAGE
South Akers Mining Company LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Operator was running a scoop to unload roof bolting supply and his light came outside of the deck and he reach over to pull it back in. The scoop ran into the rib and it sivel and catch his left hand and mashed his fingers between the deck, his light, and the back part of the scoop.

2007 · 1 incident