Mining Incidents

West Farm Pit-Wash Plant: 9 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Lamar, Prowers County, CO  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0505038

West Farm Pit-Wash Plant has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 2 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 2015
9
citations
5
significant & substantial
$7,497
proposed penalties
$3,491
paid to date
47% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $4,006 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2015
10
inspections on record
109
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: 109 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
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: 2017-04-18.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

West Farm Pit-Wash Plant has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 2 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$3K
current assessed
$3K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
8 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $7K in penalties contested before the Commission, $3K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-01-30.
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.
62.5%
significant & substantial
37.5%
high negligence or reckless
62.5%
reasonably likely or greater
25.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 62.5% moderate, 37.5% 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.
4 citations taken to the federal commission · 44% of citations on record
  • Settled 3 · 75%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 25%
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 4 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
57%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$7K proposed, $3K 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 2017-06-25.
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
WEST 2017-0530 Settlement Miller 2017 $7K → $3K
WEST 2017-0531 Dismissal Miller 2017 $116 → $116
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2018-04-05, 8 years ago
2
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2018-04-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2017-09-20 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2015-10-28, 10 years ago
1
samples
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Area sampled
2015-10-28 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 SF ORE PROCESSING
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Crossfire Aggregate Services, LLC 2015 to 2016
  2. Prowers Aggregate Operators, LLC 2016 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2018 4
2017 1
2016 1
2015 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

West Farm Pit-Wash Plant sits in Prowers County, Colorado, where the Census mining category is 1.1% 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.
Prowers County, Colorado · Population 11,931
1.1%
Mining share of county employment
$57,601
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
2018 Q4 3,300 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 3,879 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 3,350 1 0 298.5
2018 Q1 1,490 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 1,259 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 858 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 874 5 4 5720.8
2017 Q1 865 0 0 0.0
Show 8 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2016 Q4 1,074 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 882 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 892 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 762 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 435 1 0 2298.9
2015 Q3 994 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 1,171 1 0 854.0
2015 Q1 406 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.