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Watson Branch: 708 MSHA citations Coal

Solid Fuel, Inc. · Underground
Controlled by Darrell Wagner
Clairfield, Claiborne County, TN  ·  Abandoned and Sealed
MSHA Mine ID: 4003273

Watson Branch has $212K in proposed MSHA penalties and $120K 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
2017
Latest incident
Oct 2017
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2006
708
citations
160
significant & substantial
$211,892
proposed penalties
$92,125
paid to date
43% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $119,767 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Solid Fuel, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
112
inspections on record
6,155
inspection hours
11.5
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.
708 citations across 6,155 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
ⓘ A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2017-04-13.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Watson Branch has $212K in proposed MSHA penalties and $120K 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.
$212K
proposed penalties
$212K
current assessed
$92K
paid to date
$120K
outstanding
687 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2018-12-18.
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.
23.3%
significant & substantial
7.6%
high negligence or reckless
23.3%
reasonably likely or greater
15.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 4.5% low, 87.9% moderate, 7.6% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at Watson Branch shows 97% of 473 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: 2017-11-22, 8 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
473
samples
4.55
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.
182 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 291 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR218
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)91
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER38

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2017-08-24, 9 years ago
4.9
silica avg (%)
29
samples
13.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR9
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER9
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2017-08-15, 9 years ago
9%
over PEL
125
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR20
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)18
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER16
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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
2017 100% 125
2016 96% 94
2015 100% 69
2014 98% 54
2013 93% 89
2012 97% 30
2006 100% 12
Silica (quartz) by year
Year silica avg (%) samples
2017 4.2 10
2016 4.5 4
2015 4.3 8
2014 6.4 3
2013 8.1 3
2012 3.8 1
Noise by year
Year over PEL samples
2017 9% 22
2016 0% 23
2015 10% 20
2014 10% 21
2013 15% 27
2012 8% 12
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.

Watson Branch recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2016.

Injury rate, 2016
ⓘ 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 3.79 and the all-US-mining average was 2.59 cases per 100 workers.
In Tennessee, coal mining averaged 2.49 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
2016 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2015 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2014 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2006 * 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. Tennco, Inc. 2006 to 2012
  2. Solid Fuel, Inc. 2012 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)
2017 14 18,511
2016 23 41,479
2015 22 59,299
2014 18 46,193
2013 23 43,371
2012 16 26,891
2006 15 41,926
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Watson Branch sits in Claiborne County, Tennessee, where the Census mining category is 1.0% 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.
Claiborne County, Tennessee · Population 32,221
1.0%
Mining share of county employment
$46,587
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
2017 Q4 10 15 3 1500000.0
2017 Q1 15,300 39 11 2549.0
2016 Q4 9,402 34 3 3616.3
2016 Q3 11,275 30 10 2660.8
2016 Q2 11,135 46 14 4131.1
2016 Q1 10,250 33 10 3219.5
2015 Q4 12,478 37 9 2965.2
2015 Q3 9,295 9 5 968.3
Show 16 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q2 7,550 13 4 1721.9
2015 Q1 7,926 32 8 4037.3
2014 Q4 9,911 29 6 2926.0
2014 Q3 24,038 64 15 2662.5
2014 Q2 6,259 41 4 6550.6
2014 Q1 2,874 11 3 3827.4
2013 Q4 10,035 16 4 1594.4
2013 Q3 12,625 26 8 2059.4
2013 Q2 10,640 20 4 1879.7
2012 Q4 12,245 11 1 898.3
2012 Q3 8,160 20 4 2451.0
2012 Q2 2,765 19 4 6871.6
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 9,527 4 3 419.9
2006 Q2 11,258 5 2 444.1
2006 Q1 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2017 · 1 incident

October 10, 2017 TN · Coal miner, nec HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Solid Fuel, Inc. · Struck by flying object

While an ee was using a hammer & chisel to break chain apart another ee was observing. A small sliver of metal hit that ee in left wrist.