Mining Incidents

Mine No.1: 130 MSHA citations Coal

Lazarus Coal, LLC · Underground
Controlled by Toni Akers
PHELPS, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1519902

Mine No.1 has $22K in proposed MSHA penalties and $13K outstanding across 3 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 2022
130
citations
23
significant & substantial
$22,494
proposed penalties
$8,612
paid to date
38% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $13,882 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2021
14
inspections on record
1,263
inspection hours
10.3
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.
130 citations across 1,263 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Mine No.1 has $22K in proposed MSHA penalties and $13K outstanding across 3 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.
$22K
proposed penalties
$22K
current assessed
$9K
paid to date
$13K
outstanding
124 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-08-10.
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.
18.4%
significant & substantial
15.2%
high negligence or reckless
18.4%
reasonably likely or greater
25.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.8% none, 8.0% low, 76.0% moderate, 15.2% 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.
4 citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 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%
30%
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 2023-01-05.
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 2023-0026 Settlement 2023 $987 → $690
KENT 2023-0025 Settlement 2023 $934 → $652
KENT 2022-0123 Settlement 2023 $378 → $264
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Mine No.1 shows 99% of 220 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: 2023-06-06, 3 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
220
samples
2.69
dust max (mg/m3)
6
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.
40 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 180 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR74
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)66
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)40

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2023-04-17, 3 years ago
12.0
silica avg (%)
18
samples
27.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)6
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR5
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)5

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: 2023-05-19, 3 years ago
18%
over PEL
17
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)3
  • UTILITY MAN3
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
2023 98% 85
2022 99% 132
2021 100% 3
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2023 13.0 7
2022 11.4 11
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2023 38% 8
2022 0% 7
2021 0% 2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Northstar Sustainable Energy LLC 2021 to 2022
  2. Lazarus Coal, 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 23 9,369
2022 22 21,239
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Mine No.1 sits in Pike County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 5.1% 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.
Pike County, Kentucky · Population 57,466
5.1%
Mining share of county employment
$42,179
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 2,993 5 0 1670.6
2023 Q2 12,394 33 4 2662.6
2023 Q1 15,616 24 2 1536.9
2022 Q4 14,996 29 11 1933.8
2022 Q3 12,062 22 2 1823.9
2022 Q2 6,777 15 3 2213.4

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.