North Chester Pit has $44K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
1987–2009
Latest incident
Jun 2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2010
129
citations
34
significant & substantial
$44,035
proposed penalties
$32,384
paid to date
74% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $11,651 gap.
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: 380 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: 2017-07-12.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.
North Chester Pit has $44K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$44K
proposed penalties
$32K
current assessed
$32K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
124 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $33K in penalties contested before the Commission, $21K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-12-12.
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.
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.
44citations taken to the federal commission · 34% of citations on record
Settled
43 · 98%
Vacated or withdrawn
1 · 2%
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 10 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
36%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$33K proposed, $21K 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 2024-01-31.
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.
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.
Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘMany samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.
Last sampled: 2023-12-12
7
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz6
Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (7)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2023-12-12
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Laborer, Bullgang
2016-07-20
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.37
Crusher Oper/Worker
2016-07-20
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.35
Front-end Loader Operator
2016-07-20
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.29
Laborer, Bullgang
2013-07-31
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.35
Front-end Loader Operator
2013-07-31
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.41
Laborer, Bullgang
2013-07-31
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.3
Crusher Oper/Worker
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
North Chester Pit recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2023.
Injury rate, 2023
ⓘ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 metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.78 and the all-US-mining average was 2.10 cases per 100 workers.
In California, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 1.86 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
2023 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2016 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2015 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2011 *
0.00
0.00
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2025
2
2024
9
2023
10
2022
8
2021
7
2020
7
2019
4
2018
6
2017
7
2016
12
2015
12
2014
9
2013
9
2012
11
2011
13
2010
9
2009
8
2008
7
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
North Chester Pit sits in Plumas County, California, where the Census mining category is 0.5% 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.
Plumas County, California · Population 19,607
0.5%
Mining share of county employment
$64,946
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
2025 Q2
0
0
0
2025 Q1
1,620
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
5,390
0
0
0.0
2024 Q3
5,182
0
0
0.0
2024 Q2
7,192
0
0
0.0
2024 Q1
1,930
0
0
0.0
2023 Q4
7,892
33
7
4181.4
2023 Q3
7,533
8
5
1062.0
Show 59 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2023 Q2
5,724
0
0
0.0
2023 Q1
540
0
0
0.0
2022 Q4
3,387
0
0
0.0
2022 Q3
4,533
2
1
441.2
2022 Q2
4,654
0
0
0.0
2022 Q1
3,825
0
0
0.0
2021 Q4
5,469
0
0
0.0
2021 Q3
4,737
3
1
633.3
2021 Q2
3,733
0
0
0.0
2021 Q1
540
0
0
0.0
2020 Q4
6,125
0
0
0.0
2020 Q3
5,108
1
1
195.8
2020 Q2
2,816
0
0
0.0
2020 Q1
540
0
0
0.0
2019 Q4
3,156
0
0
0.0
2019 Q3
4,069
0
0
0.0
2019 Q2
1,519
1
0
658.3
2019 Q1
256
0
0
0.0
2018 Q4
1,600
0
0
0.0
2018 Q3
4,326
0
0
0.0
2018 Q2
3,760
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
480
0
0
0.0
2017 Q4
3,156
7
2
2218.0
2017 Q3
4,209
27
7
6414.8
2017 Q2
5,220
0
0
0.0
2017 Q1
2,091
0
0
0.0
2016 Q4
5,595
0
0
0.0
2016 Q3
9,892
14
3
1415.3
2016 Q2
6,656
0
0
0.0
2016 Q1
2,833
0
0
0.0
2015 Q4
4,669
0
0
0.0
2015 Q3
7,757
6
3
773.5
2015 Q2
7,156
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
4,549
0
0
0.0
2014 Q4
4,980
0
0
0.0
2014 Q3
5,786
4
1
691.3
2014 Q2
5,284
0
0
0.0
2014 Q1
1,215
0
0
0.0
2013 Q4
4,174
0
0
0.0
2013 Q3
5,338
10
2
1873.4
2013 Q2
4,997
0
0
0.0
2013 Q1
3,828
0
0
0.0
2012 Q4
6,535
0
0
0.0
2012 Q3
7,787
0
0
0.0
2012 Q2
3,579
5
0
1397.0
2012 Q1
1,265
0
0
0.0
2011 Q4
6,393
0
0
0.0
2011 Q3
11,425
4
1
350.1
2011 Q2
2,374
0
0
0.0
2011 Q1
604
0
0
0.0
2010 Q4
4,211
0
0
0.0
2010 Q3
7,090
4
0
564.2
2010 Q2
2,012
0
0
0.0
2010 Q1
0
0
0
2009 Q4
5,761
0
0
0.0
2009 Q3
6,445
0
0
0.0
2009 Q2
4,138
0
0
0.0
2009 Q1
0
0
0
2008 Q3
1,525
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
2 on file
2009 · 1 incident
June 22, 2009CA · Metal/Non-Metallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanHANDLING OF MATERIALS
While repairing conveyor belt on routine maintance, employee relocated belt position by hand and his finger got caught between v belt and sheave. He was immediately taken to Feneca Health Care District for immediate medical care.
1987 · 1 incident
July 15, 1987CA · Metal/Non-Metalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerHANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)