Mining Incidents

New Elk Mine Coal

New Elk Coal Company LLC · Underground
Controlled by Allegiance Coal LTD
Weston, Las Animas County, CO  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 0500296

New Elk Mine has $227K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
46
Years on record
1983–2013
Latest incident
Jan 2013
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2010
146
citations
53
significant & substantial
$227,525
proposed penalties
$172,356
paid to date
76% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $55,169 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
55
inspections on record
1,943
inspection hours
7.5
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.
146 citations across 1,943 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

New Elk Mine has $227K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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.
$227K
proposed penalties
$172K
current assessed
$172K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
133 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-07-07.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at New Elk Mine shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.57 mg/m3 (90% compliant) across 86 samples.

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.
0.57
dust avg (mg/m3)
3.05
dust max (mg/m3)
90%
within 1.5 mg/m3
86
samples
Most recent sample: 2012-07-10.
Silica (quartz)
9.3
silica avg (%)
11.1
silica max (%)
3
samples
Most recent sample: 2012-06-19.
Noise
25%
over PEL
4
samples
Most recent sample: 2011-02-23.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
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
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 0 0 0
2016 Q3 0 0 0
2016 Q2 0 0 0
2016 Q1 0 0 0
2015 Q4 0 0 0
2015 Q3 0 1 0
2015 Q2 0 0 0
Show 24 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q1 0 0 0
2014 Q4 0 1 0
2014 Q3 0 0 0
2014 Q2 0 0 0
2014 Q1 0 0 0
2013 Q4 4,074 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 3,038 1 0 329.2
2013 Q2 2,395 2 2 835.1
2013 Q1 4,967 4 1 805.3
2012 Q4 3,076 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 9,240 13 2 1406.9
2012 Q2 88,641 42 22 473.8
2012 Q1 5,760 25 7 4340.3
2011 Q4 160,592 27 8 168.1
2011 Q3 115,213 11 2 95.5
2011 Q2 63,403 5 4 78.9
2011 Q1 47,357 6 3 126.7
2010 Q4 23,693 3 0 126.6
2010 Q3 24,473 2 1 81.7
2010 Q2 5,338 3 1 562.0
2010 Q1 4,056 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 2,777 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 6,849 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 5,260 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

46 on file

2013 · 2 incidents

January 14, 2013 CO · Coal bull gang foreman, labor foreman, leadman, section foreman, shift boss HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Ice caused the slope car to derail. Employee was jacking the car up when he was struck by the jack handle. He received a cut to the right side of his face just below the right eye brow. The cut required five stitches and the employee was released to full duty.

2012 · 6 incidents

May 19, 2012 CO · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Struck by falling object

Employee was removing a tilt cylinder from a TRS on a roofbolter. He removed the pin from cylinder and cylinder fell pinching the right index finger resulting in a laceration and slight fracture.

May 11, 2012 CO · Coal beltman, conveyor man, conveyor belt worker, mobile bridge carrierman, feeder operator, conveyor rider POWERED HAULAGE
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Injured person was shoveling on the slope belt near the tailpiece. The belt was running. Some rocks became caught between the top belt and the hold down roller, he tried removing the rocks with his shovel and got close to the running belt. His arm got caught between roller and belt.

April 8, 2012 CO · Coal examiner, fire boss, pre-shift examiner, mine examiner POWERED HAULAGE
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Struck by falling object

The employee was examining the belt line and heard a noisy roller. He bent down to look at the roller and a piece of material ( coal or rock) came off of the belt hitting the employee in the left side of face, causing bruising and possible concussion.

March 7, 2012 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler MACHINERY
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee was jacklegging and when raising leg it stopped and suddenly raised upward striking employee in mouth and right side of face. This resulted in complex right lower lip laceration, right cheek laceration, depressed fracture anterior wall right Maxillary Sinus, fractured teeth

March 4, 2012 CO · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) MACHINERY
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Struck by falling object

Building Stop Blocking. Air tugger fell causing a laceration to the front of leg down to ankle and impacted his foot.

2011 · 22 incidents

December 28, 2011 CO · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
T K Mining Services, LLC · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Washed truck, was getting in truck and slipped grabbing door with right arm.

December 8, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
T K Mining Services, LLC · Fall to the walkway or working surface

Moving a pump because it was out of water did not want the pump to seize as employee moved it over out of #1 he slipped & fell. Employee felt a slight pull he ignored it because it didn't bother him until he got home around 8:30-9:00am.

November 19, 2011 CO · Coal HOISTING
T K Mining Services, LLC · Accident type, without injuries

Damage to the upright guide that keeps the cable from touching the ground was pulled loose and caused the cable to jump the bull wheel.

October 24, 2011 CO · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) MACHINERY
T K Mining Services, LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Employee was roof bolting. While pushing bolt up into the hole, the employee held onto the bolt and pinched his hand between the bolt and plate.

September 4, 2011 CO · Coal beltman, conveyor man, conveyor belt worker, mobile bridge carrierman, feeder operator, conveyor rider HANDLING OF MATERIALS
T K Mining Services, LLC · Over-exertion in lifting objects

THERE WAS NO EVENT THEREFORE THIS IS NOT WORK RELATED.

August 12, 2011 CO · Coal beltman, conveyor man, conveyor belt worker, mobile bridge carrierman, feeder operator, conveyor rider OCCUPATIONAL SKIN DISEASES
T K Mining Services, LLC · Absorption of radiations, caustics, toxic and noxious substances

Working in mine water and got Dermatitis

July 11, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
T K Mining Services, LLC · Fall onto or against objects

The employee was jack legging, the leg buckeled knocking the employee down and he hit his head causing a cut.

June 30, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler HANDLING OF MATERIALS
T K Mining Services, LLC · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee was carrying oil cans from hoist car to the roof bolter. All of a sudden his knee started hurting.

June 21, 2011 CO · Coal FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
T K Mining Services, LLC · Accident type, without injuries

A roof fall occurred between 1 and 2 entry at crosscut #5. The fall was from 6 to 8 feet high. The fall was approximately 30 feet in length. The roof had been bolted with six foot fully grouted roof bolts.

June 15, 2011 CO · Coal bull gang foreman, labor foreman, leadman, section foreman, shift boss ELECTRICAL
T K Mining Services, LLC · Contact with electrical current

Person came in contact with high voltage electrical source.

April 29, 2011 CO · Coal HOISTING
T K Mining Services, LLC · Accident type, without injuries

Electrical problem with the hoist. It was determined we could not fix it within the allowed time. Called the MSHA hotline number to report the accident (downtime) of hoist. Had all miners come out of mine. Repairs to hoist was made within a few hours. Hoist put back into service.

April 15, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
T K Mining Services, LLC · Fall to the walkway or working surface

Employee lost balance, fell backwards and put his right hand back to catch himself. He ended up falling on his right wrist and he heard a pop sound.

April 4, 2011 CO · Coal HOISTING
T K Mining Services, LLC · Accident type, without injuries

The hoist gears were stripped to nothing when lowering a scoop and slack in the rope tightens it puts alot of tension on the gears of the hoist.

March 4, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
T K Mining Services, LLC · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

A cable was being used to help pull a piece of equipment. The cable broke hitting employee across both knees.

February 7, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
T K Mining Services, LLC · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Mopping bath house floor with mop - buckets and nozzle for hose in the new bath house, could not carry hot water to and from, used sink in the bath house to get water, went over floor again with towel felt back pulled muscle.

January 6, 2011 CO · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
T K Mining Services, LLC · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Mopping bath house floor with mop - bucket and nozzle for hose in the new bath house. Could not carry hot water to and from. Used sink in bath house to get water, went over floor again with towel felt back pull muscle.

2010 · 3 incidents

October 24, 2010 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler POWERED HAULAGE
T K Mining Services, LLC · Absorption of radiations, caustics, toxic and noxious substances

Air jumping the fuel trailer with the Eimco. The hose was not hooked up. When the air was turned on, fuel sprayed into worker's eyes.

October 6, 2010 CO · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
T K Mining Services, LLC · Struck by falling object

Employee was moving Angle Iron into warehouse, piece slipped out of his hands and bounced off his leg. Even though this occurred on 10/6/10 he did not report that he needed to go to the doctor till 10/14/10. The injury occured on the last day of his scheduled 7 day rotation. He did not seek medical attention for this until the last day of his 7 off 10/14/10.

May 7, 2010 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler MACHINERY
New Elk Coal Company LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

EE was holding steel aligning it with jackleg and jackleg jumped smashing his hand into the roof.

1990 · 1 incident

September 12, 1990 CO · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Wyoming Fuel Company · Over-exertion in lifting objects

THE EMPLOYEE WAS REMOVING THE COVER PLATE ON RIGHT TRACK FRAME.HE WAS USING A PRY BAR TO PRY THE COVER PLATE LOOSE.HE THEN LIFTED THE PLATE OFF WHICH REQUIRED HIM TO BEND AND REACH UNDER THE T RACK.THIS CAUSED A STRAIN IN HIS BACK.

1989 · 3 incidents

May 22, 1989 CO · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Wyoming Fuel Company · Fall onto or against objects

THE INDUVAUL WAS IN THE PROCESS OF ADJUSTING A NEW COAL ASH ANGLER. HE STEPPED OFF INTO AN OPEN AREA. WHEN HE FELL HE STRUCK THE BACK OF HIS LEFT ARM. HE WAS SENT TO THE HOSPITAL AND HAD ST YITCHES APPLIED.

April 15, 1989 CO · Coal electrician, lineman POWERED HAULAGE
Wyoming Fuel Company · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

THE VICTIM WAS WIPING LOOSE COAL FROM THE TOP COVER OF THE COLLECTION BELT A MECHINCIAL SPLICE IN THE BELT GRABBED HIS LOOSE CLOTHING ON HIS LEFT ARM AND PULLED IT BETWEEN THE IDLER AND THE SP ILL BOARD.

April 10, 1989 CO · Coal beltman, conveyor man, conveyor belt worker, mobile bridge carrierman, feeder operator, conveyor rider OTHER
Wyoming Fuel Company · Unclassified, insufficient data

INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS THE INJURY OCCURRED ON 041089 HE DID NOT REPORT TO THE COMPANY UNTIL 041289 AFTER HE REPORTED TO A PRIVATE DR ON 041289 HE WAS SENT TO THE COMPANY DR THIS IS CLAIM IS STILL Q UESTIONABLY AS TO WHETHER OR NOT IT IS LOST TIME

1988 · 1 incident

January 5, 1988 CO · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Wyoming Fuel Company · Fall to lower level, (Not Elsewhere Classified)

THE MAN WAS ATTEMPTING TO OPEN THE SHOP DOORS WHEN HE STEPPED INTO AN UNCOVERED PIPE ACCESS HOLE. THERE BY SPRAINING HIS RIGHT FOOT.

1987 · 2 incidents

October 22, 1987 CO · Coal outside foreman, leadman SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Wyoming Fuel Company · Fall to the walkway or working surface

INSTALLING PIPE FROM WATER PUMP WHILE HOLDING THE PIPE HE SLIPPED ON RUBBER MAT STANDING ON.AS HE FELL HIS BODY TWISTED WITH PIPE.

March 18, 1987 CO · Coal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver POWERED HAULAGE
Wyoming Fuel Company · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

STRIKING MINERS3HAD PUNCTURED TIRES.GROUND WAS MUDDY AND SLICK WHERE MAN WAS CHANGING THEM.TRAILOR AXLES ON RIGHT SIDE HAD NO TIRES ON THAT SIDE AND MAN DID NOT BLOCK AXLE BEFORE REMOVING TIRE S.JACK SLIPPED 2FF AXLE AND PINNED MAN'S ARM BETWEEN TIRE AND FRAME OF TIRE.

1986 · 1 incident

February 24, 1986 CO · Coal outside foreman, leadman SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Wyoming Fuel Company · Fall from machine

MAN STEPPED OFF3A LOCOMOTIVE ONTO A WOODEN CAP PIECE THAT WAS LAYING IN WALKWAY & SPRAINED HIS RIGHT ANKLE

1985 · 3 incidents

March 29, 1985 CO · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Wyoming Fuel Company · Fall onto or against objects

I NAME WAS IN THE PROCESS OF HOOKING 2 PALLET TO THE LOADER. HE STEPPED ON A PIECE OF PLYWOOD WHICH WAS COVERED WITH SNOW. HE SLIPPED AND FELL CUTTING HIS RIGHT HAND ON NAIL FOUR STICHES WERE REQUIRED TO CLOSE THE LACERATION.

February 22, 1985 CO · Coal belt foreman, maintenance foreman, maintenance supervisor HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Wyoming Fuel Company · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

INDIVIDUAL WAS REMOVING ROUGH EDGES FROM CUTTING EDGE OF A BRUSH AX WHEN FILE SLIPPED CAUSING HIS RT INDEX FINGER TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH AX FOUR (4) STITCHES WERE APPLIED TO THE FINGER NO LOST TIME

January 15, 1985 CO · Coal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Wyoming Fuel Company · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

TRAILER GATE OPENED CATCHING HAND BETWEEN OPEN STOPS

1983 · 2 incidents

May 5, 1983 CO · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
C F & I Steel Corp · Struck by falling object

THE VICTIM WAS CHANGING A DRILL STEEL WHEN A SMALL PIECE OF ROCK FELL THRU CANOPY STRIKING HIM ABOVE HIS EAR.

March 16, 1983 CO · Coal mason HANDLING OF MATERIALS
C F & I Steel Corp · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

THE VICTIM WAS ATTEMPTING TO ENTER THE CAB OF THIS TRUCK WHEN HE TWISTED HIS BACK. THE STEPS USED TO ENTER THIS TRUCK WERE NOT ALL INTACT.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

The full compliance file on New Elk Mine

A dated report covering the 26-year penalty trail, line-item violation pattern, contest and docket posture, rate-normalized peer benchmark, and full fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.