Mining Incidents

Toms Creek South: 75 MSHA citations Coal

Coeburn, Wise County, VA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4407388

Toms Creek South has $15K 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
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2019
75
citations
19
significant & substantial
$14,793
proposed penalties
$14,793
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2018
31
inspections on record
889
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: 889 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Toms Creek South has $15K 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.
$15K
proposed penalties
$15K
current assessed
$15K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
74 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2020-01-22.
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.
25.7%
significant & substantial
2.7%
high negligence or reckless
25.7%
reasonably likely or greater
33.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 4.1% low, 93.2% moderate, 2.7% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Toms Creek South shows 100% of 266 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: 2022-08-24, 4 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
266
samples
1.38
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.
48 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 218 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR81
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)71
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)66

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2020-01-23, 6 years ago
5.8
silica avg (%)
13
samples
9.1
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)4

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: 2019-12-03, 6 years ago
0%
over PEL
23
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)5
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR3
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
2022 100% 1
2020 100% 21
2019 100% 237
2018 100% 7
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2020 5.0 4
2019 6.1 9
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2019 0% 18
2018 0% 5
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Toms Creek South recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2019.

Injury rate, 2019
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 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, coal mining averaged 2.65 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. Paramont Contura, LLC 2018 to present
  2. Jarisa, Inc. 2018 to 2020
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)
2020 35 14,869
2019 38 147,659
2018 14 2,796
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Toms Creek South sits in Wise County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 5.9% 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.
Wise County, Virginia · Population 35,727
5.9%
Mining share of county employment
$50,740
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
2020 Q1 11,826 4 0 338.2
2019 Q4 19,441 19 2 977.3
2019 Q3 18,687 20 5 1070.3
2019 Q2 19,131 21 7 1097.7
2019 Q1 15,352 9 4 586.2
2018 Q4 8,086 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.