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Razorblade Surface: 29 MSHA citations Coal

Deane, Letcher County, KY  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 1519829

Razorblade Surface has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $138 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 2018
29
citations
11
significant & substantial
$7,302
proposed penalties
$7,164
paid to date
98% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $138 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Bluegrass Resources, LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2018
16
inspections on record
564
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: 564 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Razorblade Surface has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $138 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$138
outstanding
29 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-05-02.
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.
37.9%
significant & substantial
10.3%
high negligence or reckless
37.9%
reasonably likely or greater
10.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 89.7% moderate, 10.3% 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.
9 citations taken to the federal commission · 31% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 9 · 100%
100%
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 7 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $2K 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 2018-08-20.
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
KENT 2018-0372 Default Lesnick 2019 $2K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Razorblade Surface shows 100% of 38 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: 2023-09-26
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
38
samples
0.77
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.
21 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 17 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR19
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR8
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE6

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2023-05-24, 3 years ago
15.0
silica avg (%)
5
samples
25.2
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR1
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2023-05-16, 3 years ago
0%
over PEL
14
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE4
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2
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
2023 100% 12
2019 100% 17
2018 100% 9
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2023 3.4 1
2019 12.6 2
2018 23.2 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2023 0% 5
2019 0% 3
2018 0% 6
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Deane Mining LLC 2018 to 2022
  2. Patriot Fuels LLC 2022 to 2022
  3. Bluegrass Resources, LLC 2022 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)
2023 9 30,825
2022 0
2021 0
2020 0
2019 9 20,030
2018 5 18,425
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Razorblade Surface sits in Letcher County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 3.5% 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.
Letcher County, Kentucky · Population 21,146
3.5%
Mining share of county employment
$40,501
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 Q4 3,432 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 5,720 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 4,059 3 1 739.1
2023 Q1 2,897 3 0 1035.6
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 0 0 0
2021 Q3 0 0 0
2021 Q2 0 0 0
Show 11 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 0 0 0
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2020 Q1 0 0 0
2019 Q3 2,652 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 7,784 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 4,680 9 0 1923.1
2018 Q4 3,000 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 5,460 3 2 549.5
2018 Q2 2,812 10 8 3556.2

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.