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Mine #8: 77 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Justin Clear
Fonde, Bell County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1519431

Mine #8 has $285K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 8 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 2009
77
citations
32
significant & substantial
$284,567
proposed penalties
$84,962
paid to date
30% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $199,605 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Clear Development LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
19
inspections on record
471
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: 471 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
ⓘ A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2013-08-27.
On record since 2013.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Mine #8 has $285K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 8 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.
$285K
proposed penalties
$85K
current assessed
$85K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
70 assessments are final orders; 8 contested dockets.
Of $277K in penalties contested before the Commission, $77K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-03-10.
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.
45.7%
significant & substantial
17.1%
high negligence or reckless
45.7%
reasonably likely or greater
21.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 4.3% low, 78.6% moderate, 17.1% 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.
14 citations taken to the federal commission · 18% of citations on record
  • Settled 14 · 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 12 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
72%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$277K proposed, $77K 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 2014-10-02.
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 2015-0004 Settlement Andrews 2015 $148K → $19K
KENT 2014-0604 Settlement Andrews 2015 $83K → $19K
KENT 2014-0603 Settlement Andrews 2015 $19K → $19K
KENT 2014-0479 Settlement Andrews 2015 $12K → $12K
KENT 2014-0634 Settlement Andrews 2015 $10K → $2K
KENT 2014-0424 Settlement Andrews 2015 $3K → $3K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Mine #8 shows 100% of 20 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: 2013-09-04, 12 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
20
samples
1.45
dust max (mg/m3)
17 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 3 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE7
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER3

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-12-21, 16 years ago
11.6
silica avg (%)
1
samples
11.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER 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: 2013-09-04, 12 years ago
0%
over PEL
13
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE5
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER3
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
2013 100% 5
2010 100% 8
2009 100% 7
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2013 0% 3
2010 0% 5
2009 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Mine #8 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2010.

Injury rate, 2010
ⓘ 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 3.96 and the all-US-mining average was 3.20 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 4.85 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.
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. Clear Development LLC 2009 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)
2014 14 15,221
2013 16 32,567
2011 5
2010 9 71,563
2009 10 8,880
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Mine #8 sits in Bell County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 3.6% 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.
Bell County, Kentucky · Population 23,878
3.6%
Mining share of county employment
$32,403
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
2014 Q1 7,997 8 7 1000.4
2013 Q4 10,502 9 0 857.0
2013 Q3 4,568 30 13 6567.4
2011 Q2 229 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 1,593 10 3 6277.5
2010 Q4 610 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 5,863 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 7,448 14 5 1879.7
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2010 Q1 6,786 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 5,574 3 1 538.2

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.