Mining Incidents

Preparation Plant: 52 MSHA citations Coal

EMCOAL INC. · Facility
Controlled by Claude W Renfro
Pisgah, Jackson County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0103231

Preparation Plant has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $85 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Preparation Plant.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2009
Latest incident
Mar 2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2002
52
citations
13
significant & substantial
$6,561
proposed penalties
$6,476
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $85 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
59
inspections on record
763
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: 763 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Preparation Plant has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $85 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$85
outstanding
52 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-12-05.
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.
25.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
25.0%
reasonably likely or greater
17.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 3.8% low, 96.2% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Preparation Plant shows 100% of 50 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: 2013-02-06, 13 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
50
samples
0.52
dust max (mg/m3)
50 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER13
  • WASHER OPERATOR12
  • LABORER/BLACKSMITH8

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: 2012-09-20, 13 years ago
0%
over PEL
33
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • WASHER OPERATOR8
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER7
  • MECHANIC4
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
2013 100% 1
2012 100% 4
2011 100% 3
2010 100% 1
2009 100% 9
2008 100% 12
2007 100% 9
2006 100% 1
2004 100% 4
2003 100% 6
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2012 0% 4
2011 0% 3
2010 0% 1
2009 0% 6
2008 0% 4
2007 0% 9
2006 0% 1
2004 0% 2
2002 0% 3
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Preparation Plant recorded 8.09 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009.

Injury rate, 2009
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.
8.09
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 5.70 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
2009 * 8.09 0.00 0.000
2008 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2007 * 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. Glade Processing Co., Inc. 2002 to 2007
  2. GTM Energy Partners LLC 2007 to 2011
  3. Alabama Carbon LLC 2011 to 2023
  4. EMCOAL INC. 2023 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2023 3
2019 3
2018 2
2017 0
2016 1
2015 1
2014 0
2013 2
2012 0
2011 3
2010 2
2009 13
2008 17
2007 10
2006 0
2005 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Preparation Plant sits in Jackson County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Jackson County, Alabama · Population 52,839
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$49,454
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
2023 Q3 440 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 426 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 1,440 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 1,020 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 540 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 560 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 0 0 0
2017 Q2 0 0 0
Show 46 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 0 0 0
2016 Q3 355 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 486 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 348 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 554 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 650 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 823 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 0 0 0
2014 Q4 0 0 0
2014 Q3 0 0 0
2014 Q2 0 0 0
2014 Q1 0 0 0
2013 Q4 0 0 0
2013 Q2 763 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 0 0 0
2012 Q3 0 1 0
2012 Q2 0 0 0
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 1,841 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 2,337 1 0 427.9
2011 Q2 99 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 520 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 326 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,753 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 1,668 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 906 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 3,606 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 5,037 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 5,958 1 0 167.8
2009 Q1 10,120 4 2 395.3
2008 Q4 12,745 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 9,470 10 4 1056.0
2008 Q2 8,701 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 6,292 1 0 158.9
2007 Q4 8,686 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 8,353 10 1 1197.2
2007 Q2 5,121 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 0 5 0
2006 Q2 0 0 0
2006 Q1 0 0 0
2005 Q4 0 2 0
2005 Q3 0 0 0
2005 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2009 · 1 incident

March 14, 2009 AL · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
GTM Energy Partners LLC · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

While working on the #1 gob chain a bar slipped and struck employee midway down his left side.