Mining Incidents

Page #1: 12 MSHA citations Coal

Mountain Fuels Inc. · Surface
Vansant, Buchanan County, VA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4407412

Page #1 has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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 2022
12
citations
4
significant & substantial
$1,780
proposed penalties
$1,780
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2022
6
inspections on record
216
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: 216 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Page #1 has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
11 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-12-20.
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
9.1%
high negligence or reckless
36.4%
reasonably likely or greater
0.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 27.3% low, 63.6% moderate, 9.1% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Page #1 shows 100% of 32 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: 2024-01-23
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
32
samples
0.21
dust max (mg/m3)
0
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.
19 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 13 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR18
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE5
  • ROTARY BUCKET EXCAVATOR OPERATOR4

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2023-08-03, 3 years ago
7.5
silica avg (%)
1
samples
7.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1

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: 2023-01-24, 3 years ago
0%
over PEL
9
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE3
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR2
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR1
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
2024 100% 2
2023 100% 17
2022 100% 13
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2023 0% 5
2022 0% 4
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Page #1 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
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.17 and the all-US-mining average was 2.10 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, coal mining averaged 2.23 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
2022 * 9.55 9.55 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. Mountain Fuels Inc. 2021 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2024 7
2023 13
2022 12
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Page #1 sits in Buchanan County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 11.2% 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.
Buchanan County, Virginia · Population 19,857
11.2%
Mining share of county employment
$42,216
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
2024 Q1 2,988 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 7,245 1 0 138.0
2023 Q3 6,671 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 7,639 2 0 261.8
2023 Q1 6,766 1 0 147.8
2022 Q4 7,000 5 2 714.3
2022 Q3 7,963 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 4,355 0 0 0.0
Show 1 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2022 Q1 1,626 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2022 · 1 incident

December 13, 2022 VA · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer POWERED HAULAGE
Mountain Fuels Inc. · Struck against a moving object

Employee lost control of Broce Broom ran thru a ditch and overturned, the employee was taken to the ER where EE was examined and found EE had bruised ribs was later released and a return to work was issued by the Doctor for 12-19-22