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American Colloid Company: 1,493 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Minerals Technologies Inc
MSHA operator ID: L00006

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1,038
Mines on record
14
Years on record
1983–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
1,493
citations
296
significant & substantial
$694,336
proposed penalties
$564,426
paid to date
81% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $129,910 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
669
inspections on record
15,538
inspection hours
9.6
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.
1,493 citations across 15,538 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
ⓘ Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$694K
proposed penalties
$575K
current assessed
$564K
paid to date
$11K
outstanding
1,469 assessments are final orders; 51 contested dockets.
Of $391K in penalties contested before the Commission, $230K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-25.
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.
20.0%
significant & substantial
3.9%
high negligence or reckless
19.8%
reasonably likely or greater
49.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 14.0% low, 81.9% moderate, 3.9% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ 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.
2.42
total case rate
0.40
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 0.74 0.00 0.000
2025 2.42 0.40 0.000
2024 2.67 1.53 0.000
2023 4.26 1.55 0.000
2022 3.02 1.29 0.000
2021 1.76 0.88 0.000
2020 1.75 0.88 0.000
2019 3.55 1.42 0.000
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.
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: 2026-02-03
29%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
354
samples
206
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz23560 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg66
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz37
  • Cristobalite, respirable16

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2007-02-07, 19 years ago
11
samples
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.
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.
154 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Settled 152 · 99%
  • Stood as issued 2 · 1%
49%
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 107 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
33%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$345K proposed, $230K 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 2023-05-15. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
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 operator contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEST 2011-805M Vacate Gill 2015 $73K → $40K
WEST 2012-409M Settlement Manning 2013 $52K → $48K
CENT 2011-120M Settlement McCarthy 2011 $36K → $24K
WEST 2011-1395M Prevail Gill 2015 $30K → $7K
WEST 2010-1561M Settlement Gill 2012 $19K → $14K
WEST 2011-861M Settlement Harner 2011 $16K → $5K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
1
2025
7
2024
7
2023
13
2022
10
2021
6
2020
4
2019
11
2018
8
2017
11
2016
9
2015
12
2014
11
2013
16
2012
18
2011
18
2010
18
2009
15
2008
15
2007
38
2006
36
2005
31
2004
28
2003
33
2002
32
2001
22
2000
26
1999
30
1998
34
1997
56
1996
48
1995
49
1994
57
1993
35
1992
40
1991
41
1990
42
1989
36
1988
20
1987
10
1986
7
1985
10
1984
40
1983
27

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where American Colloid Company stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate

MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.

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