Mining Incidents

Carbon River Coal: 1 recorded fatality operator

MSHA operator ID: P21938

Watch this operator

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Carbon River Coal mine.

Fatalities
1
Total incidents
58
Mines on record
7
Years on record
1985–2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
299
citations
138
significant & substantial
$50,318
proposed penalties
$34,156
paid to date
68% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $16,162 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
227
inspections on record
3,933
inspection hours
7.6
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.
299 citations across 3,933 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.
$50K
proposed penalties
$35K
current assessed
$34K
paid to date
$755
outstanding
283 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $23K in penalties contested before the Commission, $8K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-03-19.
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.
48.1%
significant & substantial
2.1%
high negligence or reckless
47.2%
reasonably likely or greater
13.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.2% low, 89.7% moderate, 2.1% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2007
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
Below average. The US coal mining average was 4.71 and the all-US-mining average was 3.77 cases per 100 workers.
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
2007 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2006 * 4.93 4.93 0.000
2004 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2003 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2002 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2001 4.15 4.15 1.384
2000 1.21 1.21 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: 2025-03-19
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
137
samples
2.64
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.
106 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 31 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • AUGER OPERATOR29
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER25
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR21

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-09-06
14.3
silica avg (%)
6
samples
18.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR4
  • GROUNDMAN1
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR1

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: 2025-03-19
30%
over PEL
37
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER8
  • AUGER OPERATOR6
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR6
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.
11 citations taken to the federal commission · 4% of citations on record
  • Settled 11 · 100%
50%
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%
18%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$894 proposed, $737 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 2004-06-18. 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
KENT20030103 Prevail Zielinski 2003 $20K → $5K
KENT20000065 Default Barbour 2000 $1K → $1K
KENT 2004-236 Settlement Hodgdon 2004 $894 → $737
KENT20030073 Settlement Zielinski 2003 $694 → $444
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2025
1
2024
1
2006
1
2003
1
2001
3 (1f)
2000
1
1998
2
1997
3
1996
4
1995
4
1994
7
1993
3
1992
5
1991
4
1990
3
1989
7
1988
2
1986
5
1985
1

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

1 recorded
December 17, 2001 KY · Coal blaster, shooter, shotfirer, explosive worker, powder gang/monkey Fatality · MACHINERY
Carbon River Coal Corp · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

WORKER WAS OPERATING A CAT D60 DOZER AND WAS MAKING A PAD TO PLACE A 6" GORMAN-RUPP WATER PUMP ON. DOZER TILTED OVER, WORKER WAS PINNED UNDER DOZER. HE RECEIVED MASSIVE INJURIES FROM WEIGHT OF DOZER.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Carbon River Coal 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
Need a different cut of the data? Ask us