Mining Incidents

Rockcastle Mine: 3 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Randall E Crawford
Abernant, Tuscaloosa County, AL  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 0103559

Rockcastle Mine has $590 in proposed MSHA penalties and $171 outstanding across 0 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 2024
3
citations
2
significant & substantial
$590
proposed penalties
$419
paid to date
71% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $171 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2022
15
inspections on record
225
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: 225 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Rockcastle Mine has $590 in proposed MSHA penalties and $171 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.
$590
proposed penalties
$590
current assessed
$419
paid to date
$171
outstanding
3 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-07-01.
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.
66.7%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
66.7%
reasonably likely or greater
33.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 33.3% low, 66.7% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Rockcastle Mine shows 100% of 54 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: 2026-07-08
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
54
samples
1.23
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.
36 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 18 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR22
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR15
  • COAL TRUCK DRIVER9

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-07-16
16.7
silica avg (%)
9
samples
27.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR7
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2

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: 2026-07-08
0%
over PEL
37
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR11
  • COAL TRUCK DRIVER9
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR8
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
2026 100% 6
2025 100% 18
2024 100% 14
2023 100% 16
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2026 17.8 2
2025 14.6 3
2024 24.9 2
2023 10.8 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2026 0% 3
2025 0% 9
2024 0% 15
2023 0% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Rockcastle Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.

Injury rate, 2025
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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 3.32 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 * 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. Cahaba Resouces, 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)
2026 15 18,745
2025 16 59,434
2024 18 72,209
2023 19 64,888
2022 12 8,149
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Rockcastle Mine sits in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 0.9% 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.
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama · Population 234,036
0.9%
Mining share of county employment
$63,947
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
2026 Q2 9,274 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 4,938 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 10,500 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 2,550 1 1 392.2
2025 Q2 10,250 1 0 97.6
2025 Q1 9,275 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 10,710 1 1 93.4
2024 Q3 8,612 0 0 0.0
Show 7 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 10,100 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 9,325 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 10,450 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 5,522 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 8,000 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 10,900 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 7,200 0 0 0.0

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.