Mining Incidents

No. 9: 87 MSHA citations Coal

Cliffco Enterprise, Inc. · Underground
Controlled by Cliff Bartley
Virgie, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1518546

No. 9 has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $736 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2003
Latest incident
May 2003
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
87
citations
34
significant & substantial
$7,391
proposed penalties
$6,655
paid to date
90% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $736 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
41
inspections on record
1,262
inspection hours
6.9
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.
87 citations across 1,262 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

No. 9 has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $736 outstanding across 0 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$736
outstanding
85 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2006-01-17.
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.
39.1%
significant & substantial
2.3%
high negligence or reckless
39.1%
reasonably likely or greater
13.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 10.3% low, 87.4% moderate, 0.0% high, 2.3% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at No. 9 shows 98% of 190 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: 2006-02-09, 20 years ago
98%
within 1.5 mg/m3
190
samples
1.89
dust max (mg/m3)
94 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 96 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR82
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR22
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR18

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2005-12-30, 20 years ago
4.1
silica avg (%)
9
samples
7.1
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR5
  • 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: 2005-11-09, 20 years ago
0%
over PEL
24
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)4
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR4
  • BELT MAN/CONVEYOR 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
2006 100% 7
2005 100% 33
2004 98% 64
2003 97% 60
2002 96% 26
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2005 6.0 4
2004 2.8 4
2002 2.1 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2005 0% 9
2004 0% 5
2003 0% 5
2002 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

No. 9 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2004.

Injury rate, 2004
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 5.57 and the all-US-mining average was 4.33 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 5.89 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
2004 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2003 * 3.93 3.93 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. Ember Contracting, Inc. 2002 to 2005
  2. Cliffco Enterprise, Inc. 2005 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)
2006 6 3,641
2005 7 20,194
2004 21 216,643
2003 22 245,415
2002 15 98,225
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

No. 9 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
2006 Q2 0 0 0
2006 Q1 3,905 7 4 1792.6
2005 Q4 6,227 11 5 1766.5
2005 Q3 6,189 11 3 1777.3
2005 Q2 1,292 6 0 4644.0
2005 Q1 0 1 1
2004 Q4 12,343 1 0 81.0
2004 Q3 11,528 5 2 433.7
Show 9 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2004 Q2 13,036 2 0 153.4
2004 Q1 13,131 4 1 304.6
2003 Q4 11,904 9 5 756.0
2003 Q3 11,773 7 6 594.6
2003 Q2 13,331 8 5 600.1
2003 Q1 13,906 1 1 71.9
2002 Q4 12,728 9 1 707.1
2002 Q3 6,445 4 0 620.6
2002 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2003 · 1 incident

May 6, 2003 KY · Coal laborer, bull gang, faceman, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Ember Contracting, Inc. · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

EMPLOYEE WAS HELPING TO CHANGE A BOOM SWING JACK ON A CUTTER. HE PICKED UP THE SLEEVE TO THE JACK AND TURNED AROUND TO LAY IT DOWN AND STATED THAT HE FELT PAIN IN HIS LOWER BACK.