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S.A.M. 17: 157 MSHA citations Coal

Dorton, Letcher County, KY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1519178

S.A.M. 17 has $27K in proposed MSHA penalties and $863 outstanding across 11 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 2008
157
citations
45
significant & substantial
$26,897
proposed penalties
$23,278
paid to date
87% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,619 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See South Akers Mining Co., LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
22
inspections on record
1,287
inspection hours
12.2
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.
157 citations across 1,287 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

S.A.M. 17 has $27K in proposed MSHA penalties and $863 outstanding across 11 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.
$27K
proposed penalties
$24K
current assessed
$23K
paid to date
$863
outstanding
155 assessments are final orders; 11 contested dockets.
Of $12K in penalties contested before the Commission, $9K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2010-04-14.
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.
29.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
29.0%
reasonably likely or greater
3.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 4.5% low, 95.5% moderate, 0.0% 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.
49 citations taken to the federal commission · 31% of citations on record
  • Settled 49 · 100%
96%
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 28 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
23%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$12K proposed, $9K 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 2010-03-29.
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 2010-897 Settlement Tureck 2011 $2K → $2K
KENT 2009-1562 Settlement Lesnick 2011 $2K → $1K
KENT 2008-1190 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $2K → $1K
KENT 2010-761 Settlement Feldman 2011 $1K → $1K
KENT 2009-1350 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $1K → $1K
KENT 2010-293 Settlement Rae 2011 $817 → $510
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at S.A.M. 17 shows 96% of 126 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: 2010-03-18, 16 years ago
96%
within 1.5 mg/m3
126
samples
3.45
dust max (mg/m3)
58 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 68 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR63
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)15
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2008-09-16, 17 years ago
5.4
silica avg (%)
3
samples
8.7
silica max (%)
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: 2010-03-18, 16 years ago
11%
over PEL
28
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)8
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR5
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
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
2010 100% 12
2009 94% 66
2008 98% 48
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2010 20% 5
2009 17% 12
2008 0% 11
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

S.A.M. 17 recorded 0.00 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.
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 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, coal mining averaged 5.04 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 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2008 * 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. South Akers Mining Co., LLC 2008 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)
2010 7 30,397
2009 17 128,607
2008 18 72,363
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

S.A.M. 17 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
2010 Q2 0 3 0
2010 Q1 9,513 17 9 1787.0
2009 Q4 10,860 18 4 1657.5
2009 Q3 8,529 15 4 1758.7
2009 Q2 10,355 21 6 2028.0
2009 Q1 10,782 30 5 2782.4
2008 Q4 13,347 8 3 599.4
2008 Q3 11,418 13 5 1138.6
Show 2 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2008 Q2 5,837 17 5 2912.5
2008 Q1 280 3 0 10714.3

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.