Mining Incidents

Pounding Mill Surface Mine: 25 MSHA citations Coal

HAMPDEN COAL, LLC · Surface
MAN, Logan County, WV  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4609518

Pounding Mill Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2016
25
citations
10
significant & substantial
$4,435
proposed penalties
$2,698
paid to date
61% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,737 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2016
4
inspections on record
204
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: 204 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Pounding Mill Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 1 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$4K
current assessed
$3K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
25 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $881 in penalties contested before the Commission, $804 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2017-05-30.
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.
40.0%
significant & substantial
8.0%
high negligence or reckless
40.0%
reasonably likely or greater
44.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 60.0% low, 32.0% moderate, 8.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
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.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 8% of citations on record
  • Settled 2 · 100%
50%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
9%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$881 proposed, $804 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 2017-04-13.
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.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEVA 2017-0331 Settlement Lesnick 2017 $881 → $804
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Pounding Mill Surface Mine shows 100% of 19 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: 2017-06-27, 9 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
19
samples
0.78
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.
14 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 5 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR8
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR3

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2017-05-10, 9 years ago
12.6
silica avg (%)
1
samples
12.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL 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: 2017-05-03, 9 years ago
0%
over PEL
5
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR2
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER2
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE1
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. HAMPDEN COAL, LLC 2016 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)
2018 0
2017 6 20,783
2016 9 3,873
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Pounding Mill Surface Mine sits in Logan County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 6.6% 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.
Logan County, West Virginia · Population 31,826
6.6%
Mining share of county employment
$47,237
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
2018 Q3 0 0 0
2018 Q2 0 0 0
2018 Q1 0 0 0
2017 Q4 0 0 0
2017 Q3 2,211 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 5,475 4 0 730.6
2017 Q1 6,253 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,853 9 1 4857.0

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.