Piney Branch Surface Mine has $198K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 9 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
8
Years on record
2013–2021
Latest incident
Dec 2021
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2012
145
citations
55
significant & substantial
$198,017
proposed penalties
$125,975
paid to date
64% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $72,042 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2012
45
inspections on record
1,778
inspection hours
8.2
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.
145 citations across 1,778 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Piney Branch Surface Mine has $198K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 9 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.
$198K
proposed penalties
$128K
current assessed
$126K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
144 assessments are final orders; 9 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-03-20.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
MSHA sampling at Piney Branch Surface Mine shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.15 mg/m3 (99% compliant) across 184 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.
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 Q4
0
0
0
2025 Q3
0
0
0
2025 Q2
0
0
0
2025 Q1
20
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
500
0
0
0.0
2024 Q3
20
0
0
0.0
2024 Q2
0
0
0
2024 Q1
530
0
0
0.0
Show 49 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2023 Q4
310
0
0
0.0
2023 Q3
450
0
0
0.0
2023 Q2
390
0
0
0.0
2023 Q1
510
1
1
1960.8
2022 Q4
1,360
0
0
0.0
2022 Q3
1,280
0
0
0.0
2022 Q2
278
1
0
3597.1
2022 Q1
993
0
0
0.0
2021 Q4
4,015
3
0
747.2
2021 Q3
3,868
0
0
0.0
2021 Q2
3,589
2
0
557.3
2021 Q1
2,820
2
1
709.2
2020 Q4
2,917
0
0
0.0
2020 Q3
2,567
0
0
0.0
2020 Q2
3,051
1
0
327.8
2020 Q1
3,142
0
0
0.0
2019 Q4
1,529
0
0
0.0
2019 Q3
5,521
0
0
0.0
2019 Q2
10,252
5
0
487.7
2019 Q1
4,017
3
2
746.8
2018 Q4
3,850
1
0
259.7
2018 Q3
10,184
3
1
294.6
2018 Q2
15,796
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
14,208
0
0
0.0
2017 Q4
16,209
3
0
185.1
2017 Q3
17,013
12
8
705.3
2017 Q2
16,023
3
0
187.2
2017 Q1
18,523
14
2
755.8
2016 Q4
24,108
0
0
0.0
2016 Q3
24,727
19
7
768.4
2016 Q2
19,449
0
0
0.0
2016 Q1
21,934
13
3
592.7
2015 Q4
15,950
0
0
0.0
2015 Q3
17,447
8
1
458.5
2015 Q2
22,932
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
16,712
0
0
0.0
2014 Q4
18,429
10
2
542.6
2014 Q3
15,491
0
0
0.0
2014 Q2
18,205
7
6
384.5
2014 Q1
14,739
0
0
0.0
2013 Q4
17,756
12
10
675.8
2013 Q3
14,913
1
0
67.1
2013 Q2
15,376
5
4
325.2
2013 Q1
10,176
5
3
491.4
2012 Q4
9,630
0
0
0.0
2012 Q3
7,498
6
2
800.2
2012 Q2
7,107
0
0
0.0
2012 Q1
1,196
5
2
4180.6
2011 Q4
1,208
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
8 on file
2021 · 1 incident
December 4, 2021VA · Coalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Employee was dismounting equipment when they stepped onto ground they slipped and felt a sharp pain in groin area. ****NOTE: EMPLOYEE WORKED THE NEXT SHIFT 12/06/2021 TOLD SUPERVISOR ON THAT DAY ABOUT INJURY MISSED NEXT TWO DAYS OF WORK 12/07/2021 AND 12/08/2021. RETURNED ON 12/09/2021
2019 · 1 incident
April 6, 2019VA · Coalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techHANDLING OF MATERIALS
Employee was operating a D-9 Caterpillar Bulldozer when he backed up over a rock causing pain in back and numdness in arm.
July 31, 2013VA · Coalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techFALLING/SLIDING/ROLLING MATERIALS
Apex Energy, Inc. · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
Employee was preparing to weld the left wing section of a haul truck bed to the main section of bed. He was readjusting chain when crib kicked out causing the left wing section to turn over pinning him to the ground.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
The full compliance file on Piney Branch Surface 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.