Mining Incidents

Slate Creek Mine: 21 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Rodney Mays
Oakman, Walker County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0103421

Slate Creek Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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 2017
21
citations
6
significant & substantial
$4,318
proposed penalties
$4,318
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2010
31
inspections on record
325
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: 325 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Slate Creek Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$4K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
20 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-09-09.
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.
30.0%
significant & substantial
20.0%
high negligence or reckless
30.0%
reasonably likely or greater
25.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 40.0% low, 40.0% moderate, 20.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Slate Creek Mine shows 99% of 106 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: 2022-01-03, 4 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
106
samples
3.06
dust max (mg/m3)
1
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.
45 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 61 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR54
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR43
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE8

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2020-05-19, 6 years ago
10.0
silica avg (%)
16
samples
14.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR11
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5

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: 2021-09-09, 5 years ago
0%
over PEL
24
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR10
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR6
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE6
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
2022 100% 1
2021 100% 3
2020 95% 22
2019 100% 26
2018 100% 32
2017 100% 22
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2020 9.8 2
2019 10.5 5
2018 9.1 6
2017 11.0 3
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2021 0% 1
2020 0% 6
2018 0% 5
2017 0% 12
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Slate Creek Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2020.

Injury rate, 2020
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 2.08 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 4.38 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
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 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. Reed Minerals, Inc. 2009 to 2012
  2. Quality Coal Co., Inc. 2012 to 2017
  3. Yellowhammer Energy Solutions, LLC 2017 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)
2020 27 97,413
2019 35 149,716
2018 36 183,824
2017 24 53,800
2010 0
2009 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Slate Creek Mine 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
2020 Q4 16,657 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 16,375 1 0 61.1
2020 Q2 13,693 4 3 292.1
2020 Q1 8,168 3 0 367.3
2019 Q4 16,899 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 19,513 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 22,637 2 1 88.4
2019 Q1 24,208 1 0 41.3
Show 10 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2018 Q4 23,858 1 1 41.9
2018 Q3 21,793 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 19,898 1 0 50.3
2018 Q1 17,452 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 14,823 1 0 67.5
2017 Q3 8,422 1 0 118.7
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 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.