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Emerald Coal Resources LP: 3,305 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
MSHA operator ID: P24237

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1,203
Mines on record
1
Years on record
1999–2016
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
3,305
citations
997
significant & substantial
$4,295,909
proposed penalties
$2,311,234
paid to date
54% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,984,675 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
2,015
inspections on record
79,265
inspection hours
4.2
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.
3,305 citations across 79,265 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.
$4.3M
proposed penalties
$2.8M
current assessed
$2.3M
paid to date
$526K
outstanding
3,197 assessments are final orders; 129 contested dockets.
Of $3.7M in penalties contested before the Commission, $2.2M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-05-16.
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
3.7%
high negligence or reckless
31.3%
reasonably likely or greater
15.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 25.6% low, 70.5% moderate, 3.7% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2015
ⓘ 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.
5.77
total case rate
2.43
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.76 and the all-US-mining average was 2.72 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2015 5.77 2.43 0.000
2014 10.24 6.51 0.000
2013 6.20 4.34 0.000
2012 5.07 3.47 0.000
2011 6.98 3.88 0.000
2010 7.84 5.18 0.000
2009 7.16 6.10 0.000
2008 7.89 5.80 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.

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: 2016-05-17, 10 years ago
92%
within 1.5 mg/m3
5,934
samples
10.78
dust max (mg/m3)
3
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.
2,304 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 3,630 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,789
  • JACK SETTER (LONGWALL)740
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (RETURN SIDE)290

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2015-06-16, 11 years ago
5.8
silica avg (%)
270
samples
51.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • JACK SETTER (LONGWALL)90
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR60
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (RETURN SIDE)12
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: 2016-05-17, 10 years ago
20%
over PEL
428
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR43
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (RETURN SIDE)41
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (INTAKE SIDE)40
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.
492 citations taken to the federal commission · 15% of citations on record
  • Settled 452 · 92%
  • Stood as issued 40 · 8%
74%
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 378 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
41%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$3.6M proposed, $2.1M 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 2016-04-19. 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
PENN 2015-0266 Dismissal Andrews 2017 $234K → $0
PENN 2015-0254 Dismissal Andrews 2016 $224K → $224K
PENN 2009-564 Settlement 2011 $209K → $31K
PENN 2009-203 Settlement Harner 2011 $182K → $123K
PENN 2009-42 Settlement Barbour 2011 $180K → $125K
PENN 2010-647 Prevail Harner 2013 $171K → $146K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2016
2
2015
34
2014
73
2013
65
2012
63
2011
75
2010
82
2009
76
2008
84
2007
90
2006
64
2005
75
2004
87
2003
67
2002
53
2001
73
2000
89
1999
51

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Emerald Coal Resources LP 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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