Mining Incidents

Smith Pit: 78 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Coos River Rock · Surface
Coos Bay, Coos County, OR  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3503488

Smith Pit has $8K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 3 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 2000
78
citations
15
significant & substantial
$7,845
proposed penalties
$6,581
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,264 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
38
inspections on record
490
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: 490 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Smith Pit has $8K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 3 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.
$8K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
76 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $700 in penalties contested before the Commission, $700 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-11-14.
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.
19.7%
significant & substantial
6.6%
high negligence or reckless
19.7%
reasonably likely or greater
51.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 13.2% low, 80.3% moderate, 6.6% 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.
7 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 7 · 100%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$700 proposed, $700 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 2013-02-18.
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
WEST 2012-1419M Default Manning 2013 $300 → $300
WEST 2013-505M Default Manning 2013 $300 → $300
WEST 2009-797M Default Lesnick 2011 $100 → $100
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2014-11-13, 11 years ago
7
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg6
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (7)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2014-11-13 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Supervisor, Co. Official
2010-01-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Laborer, Bullgang
2010-01-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2005-01-06 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2005-01-06 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2000-09-26 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2000-09-26 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.18 Crusher Oper/Worker
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Lee Webster Excavating Inc 1999 to 2004
  2. Coos River Rock 2004 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2014 3
2013 3
2012 5
2011 4
2010 5
2009 4
2008 5
2007 5
2006 2
2005 3
2004 4
2003 5
2002 8
2001 7
2000 8
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Smith Pit sits in Coos County, Oregon, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Coos County, Oregon · Population 64,832
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$60,313
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
2014 Q3 114 1 0 8771.9
2014 Q2 220 1 0 4545.5
2014 Q1 1,065 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 821 6 2 7308.2
2013 Q3 140 2 0 14285.7
2013 Q2 460 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 300 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 943 4 1 4241.8
Show 44 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2012 Q2 776 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 905 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 824 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 742 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 805 2 0 2484.5
2011 Q1 264 4 2 15151.5
2010 Q4 1,045 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 2,185 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 740 1 0 1351.4
2010 Q1 1,160 4 3 3448.3
2009 Q4 1,000 1 0 1000.0
2009 Q3 840 1 0 1190.5
2009 Q2 750 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 687 1 0 1455.6
2008 Q4 750 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 331 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 230 3 0 13043.5
2007 Q4 432 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 535 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 540 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 380 23 5 60526.3
2005 Q4 1,043 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 420 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 340 1 0 2941.2
2005 Q1 1,110 7 2 6306.3
2004 Q4 970 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 880 1 0 1136.4
2004 Q2 240 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 635 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 991 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 976 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 926 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 1,466 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 2,878 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 1,317 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 1,158 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 1,493 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 2,484 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 1,526 1 0 655.3
2001 Q1 1,721 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 1,046 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 2,768 2 0 722.5
2000 Q2 1,679 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 1,685 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.