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Big Laurel Mining Corporation: 1 recorded fatality operator

Controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
MSHA operator ID: P22375

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Big Laurel Mining Corporation mine.

Fatalities
1
Total incidents
83
Mines on record
3
Years on record
1993–2012
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2004
1,292
citations
420
significant & substantial
$2,272,287
proposed penalties
$1,289,992
paid to date
57% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $982,295 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2004
165
inspections on record
11,379
inspection hours
11.4
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.
1,292 citations across 11,379 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.
$2.3M
proposed penalties
$1.5M
current assessed
$1.3M
paid to date
$252K
outstanding
1,268 assessments are final orders; 94 contested dockets.
Of $2.3M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.4M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-12-20.
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.
33.1%
significant & substantial
3.2%
high negligence or reckless
34.1%
reasonably likely or greater
18.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.3% none, 19.3% low, 77.1% moderate, 3.1% high, 0.2% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2012
ⓘ 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.
3.20
total case rate
2.13
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.74 and the all-US-mining average was 2.96 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2012 3.20 2.13 0.000
2011 3.45 0.00 0.000
2010 6.26 0.00 0.000
2009 9.20 5.26 1.314
2008 11.10 0.00 0.000
2007 5.32 3.55 0.000
2006 * 8.01 2.00 0.000
2005 * 7.04 4.69 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.
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: 2012-12-17, 13 years ago
94%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,284
samples
6.27
dust max (mg/m3)
575 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 709 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR562
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)243
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)136

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2012-11-14, 13 years ago
9.2
silica avg (%)
142
samples
32.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)87
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR55
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: 2012-09-19, 13 years ago
16%
over PEL
112
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)26
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR22
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)19
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, 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.
557 citations taken to the federal commission · 43% of citations on record
  • Settled 495 · 89%
  • Stood as issued 61 · 11%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 0%
84%
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 333 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
34%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2.1M proposed, $1.4M 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 2013-10-17. 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
VA 2010-604 Settlement Moran 2012 $542K → $280K
VA 2012-337 Prevail Paez 2015 $298K → $245K
VA 2009-146 Settlement Weisberger 2012 $279K → $87K
VA 2009-276 Settlement Feldman 2012 $140K → $50K
VA 2013-140 Settlement Paez 2014 $102K → $51K
VA 2012-573 Settlement Paez 2013 $88K → $69K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2012
6
2011
9
2010
9
2009
8 (1f)
2008
8
2007
4
2006
4
2005
3
2004
10
1996
6
1995
4
1994
10
1993
2

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

1 recorded
August 20, 2009 VA · Coal electrician, lineman Fatality · FALL OF FACE/RIB/PILLAR/SIDE/HIGHWALL
Big Laurel Mining Corporation · Struck by rolling or sliding object

The individual was struck by a rib roll measuring approximately 20' long X 2' thick X 4 1/2' wide causing crushing injuries.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Big Laurel Mining Corporation 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.

The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.

See a sample report
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