Mining Incidents

Solomon Run: 53 MSHA citations Coal

ELK RESOURCES INC · Surface
Controlled by Alisha Steuernagel
Richland, Somerset County, PA  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 3610165

Solomon Run has $8K 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
1
Years on record
2020
Latest incident
Jun 2020
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2016
53
citations
10
significant & substantial
$7,694
proposed penalties
$7,694
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2016
27
inspections on record
951
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: 951 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Solomon Run has $8K 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.
$8K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
53 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-11-06.
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.
18.9%
significant & substantial
1.9%
high negligence or reckless
18.9%
reasonably likely or greater
32.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 39.6% low, 58.5% moderate, 1.9% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Solomon Run shows 99% of 170 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: 2024-11-06
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
170
samples
1.97
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.
97 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 73 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR79
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR35
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE27

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-06-18
13.6
silica avg (%)
8
samples
41.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR5
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR3

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: 2024-11-06
5%
over PEL
55
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR19
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE18
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER7
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
2024 95% 22
2023 100% 16
2022 100% 18
2021 100% 19
2020 100% 13
2019 100% 14
2018 100% 23
2017 100% 26
2016 100% 19
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2024 7.9 3
2021 11.2 2
2020 3.4 1
2017 29.8 2
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2024 0% 9
2023 0% 5
2022 0% 5
2021 0% 5
2020 0% 6
2018 0% 10
2017 23% 13
2016 0% 2
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Solomon Run recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2022.

Injury rate, 2022
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 3.26 and the all-US-mining average was 2.12 cases per 100 workers.
In Pennsylvania, coal mining averaged 4.03 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
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2017 * 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. ELK RESOURCES INC 2015 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 0
2025 0
2024 6 49,197
2023 8 50,103
2022 9 90,264
2021 10 171,675
2020 10 63,425
2019 12 190,886
2018 11 232,950
2017 11 137,541
2016 8 126,047
2015 2 1,037
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Solomon Run sits in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.6% 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.
Somerset County, Pennsylvania · Population 73,255
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$59,378
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 0 0 0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 80 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 0 0 0
2025 Q2 0 0 0
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 2,134 1 0 468.6
2024 Q3 2,443 0 0 0.0
Show 35 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,864 1 0 349.2
2024 Q1 3,029 3 1 990.4
2023 Q4 2,278 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 4,147 3 0 723.4
2023 Q2 5,414 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 4,622 4 1 865.4
2022 Q4 5,184 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 5,401 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 4,837 3 0 620.2
2022 Q1 4,861 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 5,834 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 6,318 3 1 474.8
2021 Q2 5,747 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 5,307 4 1 753.7
2020 Q4 1,158 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 1,180 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 5,351 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 5,994 6 0 1001.0
2019 Q4 5,793 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 6,910 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 6,243 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 6,657 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 5,950 1 0 168.1
2018 Q3 6,870 6 2 873.4
2018 Q2 6,473 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 6,820 1 0 146.6
2017 Q4 6,370 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 6,145 4 1 650.9
2017 Q2 5,450 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 5,920 1 0 168.9
2016 Q4 5,740 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 5,663 6 0 1059.5
2016 Q2 4,125 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 1,500 2 1 1333.3
2015 Q4 515 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2020 · 1 incident

June 17, 2020 PA · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
ELK RESOURCES INC · Over-exertion in lifting objects

Employee was setting upright a half full 55 gallon drum of oil in order to pump oil into a CAT D11N dozer and felt a sharp pain in the abdomen.