Mining Incidents

Primrose Slope: 225 MSHA citations Coal

R & K Coal Company Inc · Underground
Controlled by Jerry W Lucas Jr
Goodspring, Schuylkill County, PA  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 3608341

Primrose Slope has $93K in proposed MSHA penalties and $79K outstanding across 19 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
6
Years on record
1995–2007
Latest incident
Aug 2007
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
225
citations
95
significant & substantial
$92,707
proposed penalties
$1,824
paid to date
2% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $90,883 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
225
inspections on record
3,279
inspection hours
6.9
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.
225 citations across 3,279 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Primrose Slope has $93K in proposed MSHA penalties and $79K outstanding across 19 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.
$93K
proposed penalties
$81K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$79K
outstanding
190 assessments are final orders; 19 contested dockets.
Of $36K in penalties contested before the Commission, $20K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2008-09-15.
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.
49.0%
significant & substantial
17.8%
high negligence or reckless
48.7%
reasonably likely or greater
14.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 6.8% low, 75.4% moderate, 8.9% high, 8.9% 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.
56 citations taken to the federal commission · 25% of citations on record
  • Settled 36 · 64%
  • Stood as issued 20 · 36%
84%
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 38 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
44%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$33K proposed, $19K 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 2008-04-11.
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
PENN 2005-282 Default Lesnick 2006 $10K → $10K
PENN 2005-113 Dismissal Weisberger 2005 $6K → $825
PENN 2005-200 Settlement Lesnick 2005 $6K → $605
PENN 2006-35 Settlement Weisberger 2006 $5K → $2K
PENN 2008-290 Settlement Lewis 2011 $2K → $2K
PENN 2006-266 Default Lesnick 2007 $1K → $1K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Primrose Slope shows 100% of 213 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: 2008-09-16, 17 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
213
samples
0.89
dust max (mg/m3)
83 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 130 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HAND LOADERS158
  • LABORER16
  • HOIST ENGINEER/OPERATOR13

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: 2007-07-11, 19 years ago
0%
over PEL
24
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HOIST ENGINEER/OPERATOR9
  • HAND LOADERS7
  • LABORER6
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
2008 100% 12
2007 100% 33
2006 100% 19
2005 100% 1
2004 100% 11
2003 100% 23
2002 100% 46
2001 100% 31
2000 100% 37
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2007 0% 7
2006 0% 6
2005 0% 3
2004 0% 1
2002 0% 2
2001 0% 3
2000 0% 2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. C & C Coal Company 1992 to 1994
  2. D & D Coal Company 1994 to 2007
  3. R & K Coal Company Inc 2007 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)
2008 3 3,309
2007 4 3,054
2006 3 1,521
2005 3 1,736
2004 3 2,635
2003 5 7,215
2002 6 7,518
2001 6 4,387
2000 5 4,694
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Primrose Slope sits in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.1% 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.
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania · Population 143,259
1.1%
Mining share of county employment
$66,901
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
2008 Q4 0 0 0
2008 Q3 1,620 1 0 617.3
2008 Q2 1,280 1 0 781.2
2008 Q1 1,920 1 0 520.8
2007 Q4 1,176 36 16 30612.2
2007 Q3 2,400 4 2 1666.7
2007 Q2 2,400 3 1 1250.0
2007 Q1 640 2 0 3125.0
Show 28 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2006 Q4 2,048 3 0 1464.8
2006 Q3 480 3 2 6250.0
2006 Q2 1,728 4 1 2314.8
2006 Q1 1,575 11 1 6984.1
2005 Q4 576 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,575 12 6 7619.0
2005 Q2 1,800 1 0 555.6
2005 Q1 1,260 16 9 12698.4
2004 Q4 1,575 7 3 4444.4
2004 Q3 1,512 42 20 27777.8
2004 Q2 1,440 12 5 8333.3
2004 Q1 1,800 17 7 9444.4
2003 Q4 330 12 7 36363.6
2003 Q3 2,730 1 0 366.3
2003 Q2 2,250 4 1 1777.8
2003 Q1 2,016 2 1 992.1
2002 Q4 2,448 2 0 817.0
2002 Q3 4,032 7 3 1736.1
2002 Q2 3,456 4 1 1157.4
2002 Q1 3,750 1 0 266.7
2001 Q4 3,456 5 4 1446.8
2001 Q3 4,176 1 0 239.5
2001 Q2 2,016 5 3 2480.2
2001 Q1 2,688 2 1 744.0
2000 Q4 3,960 1 1 252.5
2000 Q3 672 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 2,520 1 0 396.8
2000 Q1 2,520 1 0 396.8
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

6 on file

2007 · 1 incident

August 20, 2007 PA · Coal assayer, geologist, metallurgist, engineer, engineer management SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
D & D Coal Company · Fall to the walkway or working surface

Left in coal buggie, a buggie of rock was dumped into slope buggie. Ladder was forgotten about causing the rock to jam on tipple chute when buggie was dumped into chute outside. Foreman then stood on side of rock truck to poke up at jammed ladder and rock with mine board causing rock to slide down board knocking foreman down along side of rock truck.

2003 · 2 incidents

October 13, 2003 PA · Coal FALL OF FACE/RIB/PILLAR/SIDE/HIGHWALL
D & D Coal Company · Accident type, without injuries

THE 2ND OUTLET HAS HAD A RIB RUN/ROOF FALL FROM TOP OF PILLAR INBY 1ST LEVEL GANGWAY ESCAPEWAY. THE RIB RUN/FALL WAS CAUSED BY WATER COURSING DOWN THE 2ND OUTLET ESCAPEWAY. FALL/RUN OCCURED BE FORE START OF SHIFT 10/13/03. NO MINERS WERE INJURED OR IN THE MINE AT TIME OF OCCURENCE. VENTILATING AIR IS COURSING THROUGH RETURN AIR COURSE.

1999 · 1 incident

1997 · 1 incident

November 4, 1997 PA · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
D & D Coal Company · Fall down raise, shaft or manway

SLIPPED ON BONE ON FOOT BATTERY AND FELL 50 FT, LANDED ON LOOSE COAL AND WOOD.

1995 · 1 incident

D & D Coal Company · Accident type, without injuries

THE MINE HAS EXPERINED AN UNPLANNED COAL RIB RUN ON THE ACTIVE 001-0 SECTION THAT IMPAIR S VENTILATION AND IMPEDES PASSAGE OF MEN. THE RIB RUN IS LOCATED IN THE MAIN RETURN ESCAPEWAY AT NO. 1 CHUTE BETWEEN THE 1ST LEVEL EAST GANGWAY AND THEMONKEY HEADING.