West Screen Plant #1 has $15K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2012
Latest incident
Oct 2012
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2009
63
citations
14
significant & substantial
$15,155
proposed penalties
$14,919
paid to date
98% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $236 gap.
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: 330 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
West Screen Plant #1 has $15K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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
63 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
Of $8K in penalties contested before the Commission, $7K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-08-07.
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.
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.
27citations taken to the federal commission · 43% of citations on record
Settled
26 · 96%
Vacated or withdrawn
1 · 4%
90%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 10 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
6%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$8K proposed, $7K 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 2018-02-13.
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.
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: 2004-03-11, 22 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
3
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz3
Show the individual readings (3)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2004-03-11
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.24
1.25
0.19
Supervisor, Co. Official
2004-03-11
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
1.18
1.78
0.66
Crusher Oper/Worker
2004-03-11
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.67
1.97
0.34
Front-end Loader Operator
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2015-09-01, 10 years ago
4
samples
Show the individual readings (4)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Area sampled
2015-09-01
Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz
0.13
MP WASH/SCREEN
2015-09-01
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
MP WASH/SCREEN
2014-07-09
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.21
SF ACTIVE MINING
2014-07-09
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
SF ACTIVE MINING
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2026
0
2025
1
2024
5
2022
0
2021
1
2018
1
2017
6
2016
5
2015
3
2014
4
2013
7
2012
5
2011
6
2010
6
2009
3
2008
0
2007
3
2006
3
2005
4
2004
2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
West Screen Plant #1 sits in Custer County, South Dakota, where the Census mining category is 2.8% 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.
Custer County, South Dakota · Population 8,686
2.8%
Mining share of county employment
$81,958
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
0
0
0
2026 Q1
0
0
0
2025 Q4
0
0
0
2025 Q3
360
0
0
0.0
2025 Q2
1,227
0
0
0.0
2025 Q1
1,103
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
884
0
0
0.0
2024 Q3
3,329
4
1
1201.6
Show 61 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2022 Q3
0
0
0
2022 Q2
0
0
0
2022 Q1
0
0
0
2021 Q3
0
0
0
2021 Q2
250
0
0
0.0
2018 Q4
1
0
0
0.0
2018 Q3
1
0
0
0.0
2018 Q2
1
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
1
0
0
0.0
2017 Q4
686
5
0
7288.6
2017 Q3
731
0
0
0.0
2017 Q2
1,067
0
0
0.0
2017 Q1
378
13
5
34391.5
2016 Q4
1,180
0
0
0.0
2016 Q3
128
0
0
0.0
2016 Q2
1,379
4
0
2900.7
2016 Q1
279
0
0
0.0
2015 Q4
818
0
0
0.0
2015 Q3
1,058
8
1
7561.4
2015 Q2
1
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
19
0
0
0.0
2014 Q4
733
0
0
0.0
2014 Q3
2,566
7
3
2728.0
2014 Q2
1,904
0
0
0.0
2014 Q1
1
0
0
0.0
2013 Q4
455
0
0
0.0
2013 Q3
3,199
2
1
625.2
2013 Q2
3,632
0
0
0.0
2013 Q1
3,529
0
0
0.0
2012 Q4
3,538
0
0
0.0
2012 Q3
1,608
0
0
0.0
2012 Q2
1,825
8
2
4383.6
2011 Q4
1,510
1
0
662.3
2011 Q3
1,203
0
0
0.0
2011 Q2
1,753
0
0
0.0
2011 Q1
1,799
0
0
0.0
2010 Q4
2,588
0
0
0.0
2010 Q3
3,260
2
1
613.5
2010 Q2
3,034
0
0
0.0
2010 Q1
631
0
0
0.0
2009 Q4
1
0
0
0.0
2009 Q3
3,768
9
0
2388.5
2009 Q2
73
0
0
0.0
2008 Q2
0
0
0
2008 Q1
0
0
0
2007 Q4
118
0
0
0.0
2007 Q3
2,972
0
0
0.0
2007 Q2
1,852
0
0
0.0
2007 Q1
1,667
0
0
0.0
2006 Q4
1,869
0
0
0.0
2006 Q3
2,962
0
0
0.0
2006 Q2
1,913
0
0
0.0
2006 Q1
123
0
0
0.0
2005 Q4
1,374
0
0
0.0
2005 Q3
2,697
0
0
0.0
2005 Q2
2,257
0
0
0.0
2005 Q1
2,078
0
0
0.0
2004 Q4
1,354
0
0
0.0
2004 Q3
161
0
0
0.0
2004 Q2
1,265
0
0
0.0
2004 Q1
498
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
1 on file
2012 · 1 incident
October 11, 2012SD · Metal/Non-Metalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerHANDLING OF MATERIALS