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Cave Spur Coal LLC: 973 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
MSHA operator ID: P24219

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
177
Mines on record
1
Years on record
2000–2012
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
973
citations
296
significant & substantial
$523,016
proposed penalties
$339,675
paid to date
65% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $183,341 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
194
inspections on record
9,060
inspection hours
10.7
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.
973 citations across 9,060 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.
$523K
proposed penalties
$340K
current assessed
$340K
paid to date
$163
outstanding
949 assessments are final orders; 71 contested dockets.
Of $444K in penalties contested before the Commission, $243K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-04-05.
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.
31.1%
significant & substantial
0.8%
high negligence or reckless
31.1%
reasonably likely or greater
5.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 7.8% low, 91.3% moderate, 0.5% high, 0.3% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2011
ⓘ 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.
8.00
total case rate
2.67
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.83 and the all-US-mining average was 3.08 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2011 8.00 2.67 0.000
2010 10.29 6.86 0.000
2009 7.32 5.49 0.000
2008 13.93 1.99 0.000
2007 * 15.17 8.67 0.000
2006 * 27.25 6.81 0.000
2005 * 9.11 4.56 0.000
2004 * 9.08 4.54 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: 2012-01-26, 14 years ago
92%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,322
samples
11.16
dust max (mg/m3)
637 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 685 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR592
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)99
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)80

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2011-09-14, 14 years ago
8.0
silica avg (%)
127
samples
31.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR56
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: 2011-12-08, 14 years ago
20%
over PEL
155
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR29
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)28
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)23
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.
172 citations taken to the federal commission · 18% of citations on record
  • Settled 168 · 98%
  • Stood as issued 4 · 2%
91%
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 99 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
57%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$241K proposed, $104K 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 2012-08-30. 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
KENT 2010-400 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $123K → $15K
KENT 2008-185 Settlement Melick 2008 $25K → $8K
KENT 2004-5 Settlement Zielinski 2004 $25K → $17K
KENT 2003-389 Settlement Zielinski 2004 $18K → $14K
KENT20020116 Settlement Melick 2002 $16K → $12K
KENT20020285 Settlement Melick 2002 $15K → $11K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2012
3
2011
10
2010
19
2009
11
2008
7
2007
9
2006
14
2005
8
2004
11
2003
18
2002
29
2001
28
2000
10

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Cave Spur Coal LLC 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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