Mining Incidents

Gateway Eagle Coal Company, LLC: 864 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Patriot Coal Corporation
MSHA operator ID: 0119069

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
103
Mines on record
4
Years on record
2011–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2011
864
citations
270
significant & substantial
$1,159,696
proposed penalties
$505,391
paid to date
44% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $654,305 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2011
146
inspections on record
12,161
inspection hours
7.1
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.
864 citations across 12,161 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.
$1.2M
proposed penalties
$818K
current assessed
$505K
paid to date
$312K
outstanding
837 assessments are final orders; 95 contested dockets.
Of $1.0M in penalties contested before the Commission, $677K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-10-19.
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.
32.2%
significant & substantial
3.5%
high negligence or reckless
32.4%
reasonably likely or greater
51.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.6% none, 26.2% low, 69.7% moderate, 3.0% high, 0.5% 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.
10.77
total case rate
5.15
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 10.77 5.15 0.000
2014 12.06 6.66 0.000
2013 7.79 6.06 0.000
2012 7.20 5.76 0.000
2011 * 11.96 7.97 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: 2015-10-19, 10 years ago
95%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,084
samples
11.08
dust max (mg/m3)
1
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.
490 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 594 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR571
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)115
  • SUPPLY MAN60

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2015-09-22, 10 years ago
5.2
silica avg (%)
53
samples
8.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR42
  • SUPPLY MAN4

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: 2015-06-17, 11 years ago
2%
over PEL
138
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)32
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR18
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR16
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.
345 citations taken to the federal commission · 40% of citations on record
  • Settled 342 · 99%
  • Stood as issued 3 · 1%
72%
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 272 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
34%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.0M proposed, $670K 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 2016-06-30. 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
WEVA 2013-357 Settlement Bulluck 2015 $170K → $132K
WEVA 2013-117 Settlement Bulluck 2015 $138K → $107K
WEVA 2013-85 Settlement Bulluck 2015 $105K → $10K
WEVA 2013-1349 Settlement Rae 2014 $39K → $19K
WEVA 2015-0565 Settlement Moran 2016 $36K → $36K
WEVA 2013-450 Settlement Bulluck 2015 $35K → $35K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2015
25
2014
38
2013
20
2012
17
2011
3

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Gateway Eagle Coal Company, 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.

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