Mining Incidents

OLAN PROCESSING PLANT: 90 MSHA citations Coal

ONYX ENERGY, LLC · Facility
McComas, Mercer County, WV  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4609556

OLAN PROCESSING PLANT has $24K in proposed MSHA penalties and $13K 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
2022
Latest incident
Dec 2022
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2020
90
citations
19
significant & substantial
$23,966
proposed penalties
$11,271
paid to date
47% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $12,695 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2019
35
inspections on record
758
inspection hours
n/a
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: 758 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

OLAN PROCESSING PLANT has $24K in proposed MSHA penalties and $13K 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.
$24K
proposed penalties
$24K
current assessed
$11K
paid to date
$13K
outstanding
89 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-10-02.
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.
21.3%
significant & substantial
6.7%
high negligence or reckless
21.3%
reasonably likely or greater
34.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 66.3% low, 27.0% moderate, 6.7% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at OLAN PROCESSING PLANT shows 99% of 88 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: 2026-06-03
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
88
samples
2.59
dust max (mg/m3)
1
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.
66 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 22 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER33
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR21
  • UTILITY MAN13

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-06-26
0.7
silica avg (%)
5
samples
1.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER5

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: 2025-10-15
0%
over PEL
35
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER13
  • UTILITY MAN8
  • CLEANING PLANT 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
2026 100% 5
2025 100% 10
2024 100% 11
2023 100% 11
2022 96% 24
2021 100% 9
2020 100% 18
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2024 1.0 1
2023 0.7 2
2022 0.6 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2025 0% 10
2024 0% 5
2023 0% 6
2021 0% 4
2020 0% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

OLAN PROCESSING PLANT recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.

Injury rate, 2025
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 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In West Virginia, coal mining averaged 3.89 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 3.42 3.42 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 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.
Ownership history
  1. Star Services, LLC 2018 to 2022
  2. Onyx Energy, LLC 2022 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 8
2025 15
2024 23
2023 27
2022 21
2021 17
2020 13
2019 9
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

OLAN PROCESSING PLANT sits in Mercer County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 1.9% 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.
Mercer County, West Virginia · Population 59,062
1.9%
Mining share of county employment
$47,799
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
2026 Q2 7,354 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 8,740 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 11,229 1 0 89.1
2025 Q3 11,300 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 11,249 1 0 88.9
2025 Q1 10,228 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 14,030 8 1 570.2
2024 Q3 15,607 0 0 0.0
Show 20 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 18,281 5 0 273.5
2024 Q1 18,546 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 17,295 5 1 289.1
2023 Q3 18,222 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 17,149 5 0 291.6
2023 Q1 18,915 2 2 105.7
2022 Q4 17,667 3 0 169.8
2022 Q3 15,756 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 13,045 3 0 230.0
2022 Q1 12,033 4 0 332.4
2021 Q4 12,823 1 0 78.0
2021 Q3 11,207 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 10,284 5 2 486.2
2021 Q1 10,331 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 9,742 6 1 615.9
2020 Q3 10,342 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 8,224 3 2 364.8
2020 Q1 7,259 10 1 1377.6
2019 Q4 6,430 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 7,782 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2022 · 1 incident

December 23, 2022 WV · Coal prep plant foreman, supervisor, mill plant supervisor, kiln supervisor POWERED HAULAGE
Onyx Energy, LLC · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Employee stated: had a rag in hand and the rag got pulled into the roller which pulled EE's arm into the roller.