Mining Incidents

Spring Branch 1: 11 MSHA citations Coal

R & S Coal · Underground
Controlled by Larry Hamilton
Boldman, Pike County, KY  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 1519526

Spring Branch 1 has $1K in proposed MSHA penalties and $472 outstanding across 1 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 2010
11
citations
1
significant & substantial
$1,184
proposed penalties
$712
paid to date
60% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $472 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2010
27
inspections on record
261
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: 261 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Spring Branch 1 has $1K in proposed MSHA penalties and $472 outstanding across 1 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.
$1K
proposed penalties
$1K
current assessed
$712
paid to date
$472
outstanding
11 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $236 in penalties contested before the Commission, $236 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2018-12-10.
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.
9.1%
significant & substantial
18.2%
high negligence or reckless
9.1%
reasonably likely or greater
0.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 18.2% low, 63.6% moderate, 18.2% 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.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 18% of citations on record
  • Settled 2 · 100%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$236 proposed, $236 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 2019-01-10.
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 2019-0106 Settlement Bulluck 2019 $236 → $236
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Centurian of Pikeville, Inc. 2010 to 2018
  2. R & S Coal 2018 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2011 0
2010 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Spring Branch 1 sits in Pike County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 5.1% 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.
Pike County, Kentucky · Population 57,466
5.1%
Mining share of county employment
$42,179
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
2011 Q2 0 0 0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 0 4 0
2010 Q3 0 3 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.