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Pumpkin Center Plant: 4 reportable incidents Coal

Quinton, Walker County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0103145

MSHA sampling at Pumpkin Center Plant shows 100% of 12 respirable coal dust samples met the 1.5 mg/m3 standard, plus the mine's fatality, citation, and penalty record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
4
Years on record
1999–2000
Latest incident
Jul 2000
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
10
inspections on record
71
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: 71 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Pumpkin Center Plant shows 100% of 12 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: 2001-07-18, 25 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
12
samples
0.62
dust max (mg/m3)
12 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 0 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER4
  • FINE COAL PLANT OPERATOR2
  • OUTSIDE FOREMAN2

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: 2001-07-18, 25 years ago
0%
over PEL
6
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER2
  • FINE COAL PLANT OPERATOR1
  • MINE FOREMAN/MINE MANAGER1
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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
2001 100% 3
2000 100% 9
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2001 0% 3
2000 0% 3
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Pumpkin Center Plant recorded 8.60 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2000.

Injury rate, 2000
ⓘ 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.
8.60
total case rate
2.87
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 7.74 and the all-US-mining average was 5.64 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 10.94 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.
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. Pacificorp Syn Fuel Llc 1999 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2002 0
2001 18
2000 31
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Pumpkin Center Plant sits in Walker County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 3.3% 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.
Walker County, Alabama · Population 64,886
3.3%
Mining share of county employment
$54,509
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
2002 Q1 0 0 0
2001 Q4 1,337 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 5,992 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 4,413 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 7,614 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 15,512 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 17,706 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 19,610 0 0 0.0
Show 1 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2000 Q1 16,951 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

4 on file

2000 · 3 incidents

July 13, 2000 AL · Coal mine manager, mine foreman, mine owner HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Pacificorp Syn Fuel Llc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

USING A POCKET KNIFE TO CUT A WIRE TIE. WHEN THE KNIFE CUT THROUGH THE WIRE TIE IT LACERATED THE LEFT THUMB.

February 25, 2000 AL · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Pacificorp Syn Fuel Llc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

WHILE USING A ROUND STEEL BAR APPROXIMATELY 2/3" IN DIAMETER TO STRIKE THE LINER OF THE EXTRUDING CHAMBER IN AN EFFORT TO BREAK IT LOOSE. THE STEEL BAR SLIPPED PINCHING THE STEEL BAR AND THE A UGER INSIDE THE EXTRUDER CHAMBER.

January 22, 2000 AL · Coal miner, nec SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Pacificorp Syn Fuel Llc · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

THE EE BEGAN CLIMBING DOWN THE LADDER OF THE FRONT-END LOADER WHEN HE SLIPPED. WET AND ICEE CONDITIONS EXISTED AT THE TIME. TE EE DID NOT FALL TO THE GROUND BUT CAUGHT HIMSELF BY GRABBING HOLD OF THE LADDER.

1999 · 1 incident

August 19, 1999 AL · Coal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator MACHINERY
Pacificorp Syn Fuel Llc · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

EE WAS PREPARING TO GREASE A BEARING ON A VIBRATING SCREEN. HE DISCONNECTED THE POWER POWERING FDOWN THE SCREEN. HE HAD FAILED TO BRING HIS FLASHLIGHT UP ON THE PLATFORM. AFTER WAITING FOR A P ERIOD OF TIME FOR THE DECK TO STOP, HE ATTEMPTED STO USE HIS FINGERS TO LOCATE THE FITTING BY REACHING THROUGH THE ACCESS PORT IN THE GUARD. THE ECCENTRIC SHAFT WAS STILL MOVING, TRAPPING HIS