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Talley Hollow Surface Mine: 14 MSHA citations Coal

Controlled by Daniel W Bunn
Werner Cliffs, Mingo County, WV  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4609658

Talley Hollow Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 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
2026
Latest incident
Aug 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2026
14
citations
7
significant & substantial
$4,446
proposed penalties
$4,295
paid to date
97% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $151 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Mega Highwall Mining, LLC's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2026
3
inspections on record
107
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: 107 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Talley Hollow Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 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
$151
outstanding
2 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-30.
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.
50.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
50.0%
reasonably likely or greater
42.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 42.9% low, 57.1% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Talley Hollow Surface Mine shows 100% of 7 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: 2026-06-26
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
7
samples
0.27
dust max (mg/m3)
0
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.
5 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 2 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR3
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR1

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-07-02
3.6
silica avg (%)
1
samples
3.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Ben's Creek Operations WV LLC 2023 to 2024
  2. Mega Highwall Mining, LLC 2024 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 22 111,614
2025 0
2024 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Talley Hollow Surface Mine sits in Mingo County, West Virginia, where the Census mining category is 15.0% 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.
Mingo County, West Virginia · Population 22,979
15.0%
Mining share of county employment
$39,527
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 15,807 13 7 822.4
2026 Q1 8,424 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 0 0 0
2025 Q3 0 0 0
2025 Q2 0 0 0
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2026 · 1 incident

August 5, 2026 WV · Coal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Mega Highwall Mining, LLC · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Stacking boxes when the box underneath shifted/fell while their hand was still caught in the banding. As the box dropped, the band jerked their arm before the box reached the floor.