Mining Incidents

Thompson Surface Mine: 25 MSHA citations Coal

Pea Ridge, Al 35115, Shelby County, AL  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0103366

Thompson Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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 2007
25
citations
7
significant & substantial
$3,540
proposed penalties
$3,540
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
18
inspections on record
239
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: 239 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Thompson Surface Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$4K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
25 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $634 in penalties contested before the Commission, $634 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-07-19.
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.
28.0%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
28.0%
reasonably likely or greater
0.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 12.0% low, 88.0% moderate, 0.0% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 4% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 100%
100%
S&S designation survived the contest
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$634 proposed, $634 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 2009-08-18.
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
SE 2009-829 Settlement Lesnick 2011 $634 → $634
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Thompson Surface Mine shows 100% of 36 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: 2012-09-25, 13 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
36
samples
0.88
dust max (mg/m3)
27 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 9 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE17
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR9
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR5

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-07-09, 17 years ago
10.6
silica avg (%)
4
samples
11.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE3
  • WATER TRUCK OPERATOR1

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: 2012-09-25, 13 years ago
8%
over PEL
13
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR5
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR4
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE3
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
2012 100% 2
2010 100% 3
2009 100% 14
2008 100% 10
2007 100% 7
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2009 10.4 3
2008 11.1 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2012 0% 2
2010 100% 1
2008 0% 10
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Thompson Surface Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009.

Injury rate, 2009
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 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
In Alabama, coal mining averaged 5.70 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.
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. Tacoa Minerals, LLC 2007 to 2013
  2. Jesse Creek Mining, LLC 2013 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)
2013 0
2012 4
2011 0
2010 0
2009 16 10,048
2008 8 19,314
2007 21 58,266
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Thompson Surface Mine sits in Shelby County, Alabama, where the Census mining category is 0.5% 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.
Shelby County, Alabama · Population 226,955
0.5%
Mining share of county employment
$93,543
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
2013 Q4 0 0 0
2013 Q2 0 0 0
2013 Q1 0 0 0
2012 Q4 780 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 780 1 0 1282.1
2012 Q2 780 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 0 0 0
Show 17 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2011 Q3 0 0 0
2011 Q2 0 0 0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 0 0 0
2010 Q3 0 0 0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 1,073 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 10,720 4 1 373.1
2009 Q2 13,419 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 12,729 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 0 12 3
2008 Q3 0 0 0
2008 Q2 1,293 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 10,379 2 1 192.7
2007 Q4 13,752 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 16,501 6 2 363.6

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.