Mining Incidents

Mine No 17: 67 MSHA citations Coal

Premium Coal · Underground
Controlled by James C Justice III
Devonia, Anderson County, TN  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4003279

Mine No 17 has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $518 outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
10
Years on record
2006–2009
Latest incident
Mar 2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2006
67
citations
24
significant & substantial
$8,925
proposed penalties
$8,001
paid to date
90% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $924 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
29
inspections on record
1,120
inspection hours
6.0
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.
67 citations across 1,120 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Mine No 17 has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $518 outstanding across 4 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
$9K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$518
outstanding
66 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-12-11.
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.
36.4%
significant & substantial
1.5%
high negligence or reckless
36.4%
reasonably likely or greater
3.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 10.6% low, 87.9% moderate, 1.5% 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.
7 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Settled 7 · 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 5 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
27%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $1K 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 2016-08-31.
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
SE 2009-102 Settlement Paez 2013 $699 → $518
SE 2012-428 Settlement McCarthy 2013 $397 → $280
SE 2011-39 Settlement Weisberger 2011 $308 → $200
SE 2016-0332 Settlement Bulluck 2017 $127 → $114
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Mine No 17 shows 95% of 91 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: 2009-03-13, 17 years ago
95%
within 1.5 mg/m3
91
samples
2.81
dust max (mg/m3)
40 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 51 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR47
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)7
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)6

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-02-17, 17 years ago
21.9
silica avg (%)
7
samples
36.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3

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: 2009-02-05, 17 years ago
0%
over PEL
25
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)7
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)6
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR5
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 100% 18
2008 100% 33
2006 88% 40
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2009 20.6 2
2008 7.2 1
2006 26.2 4
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2009 0% 5
2008 0% 10
2006 0% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Mine No 17 recorded 7.58 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.
7.58
total case rate
3.79
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 4.41 and the all-US-mining average was 3.61 cases per 100 workers.
In Tennessee, coal mining averaged 4.00 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. National Coal Corporation 2006 to 2010
  2. Premium Coal 2010 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 54 24,730
2008 26 37,292
2007 0
2006 20 26,662
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Mine No 17 sits in Anderson County, Tennessee, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Anderson County, Tennessee · Population 78,175
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$63,171
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 Q2 11,462 1 0 87.2
2009 Q1 27,466 9 2 327.7
2008 Q4 21,214 25 8 1178.5
2008 Q3 21,642 18 6 831.7
2008 Q2 9,893 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 0 0 0
2007 Q4 0 0 0
2007 Q3 0 0 0
Show 4 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2007 Q2 0 0 0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 9,684 2 0 206.5
2006 Q3 3,502 4 4 1142.2
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

10 on file

2009 · 7 incidents

March 31, 2009 TN · Coal discontinued 1/31/2014. several other codes cover scoop car operator POWERED HAULAGE
National Coal Corporation · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

The employee was tramming scoop from outside to face. Got his light cord hung in roof bolt or plate jerking head around.

March 25, 2009 TN · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) MACHINERY
National Coal Corporation · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Got left hand between left index finger and thumb between wrench and drill steel.

January 23, 2009 TN · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler POWERED HAULAGE
National Coal Corporation · Struck by powered moving object

Hanging curtain up, got bumped by shuttle car.

2008 · 2 incidents

December 9, 2008 TN · Coal continuous miner helper, coal mole helper, bridgeman MACHINERY
National Coal Corporation · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

The operator was lowering the head of the miner from the operator side as the employee was looking underneath the machine with his left arm lying on the miner pan, catching arm between the pan and head on the off side of miner, breaking employee's arm.

August 19, 2008 TN · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) MACHINERY
National Coal Corporation · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Mashed right wrist and fingers drilling hole to install roof bolt.

2006 · 1 incident

October 30, 2006 TN · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) MACHINERY
National Coal Corporation · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee was installing roof bolts when his glove became caught on the bolt while it was rotating & it twisted his right hand.