Mining Incidents

Heritage Coal & Natural Resources, LLC: 384 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by KTRV LLC
MSHA operator ID: 0094965

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
7
Mines on record
5
Years on record
2021–2024
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
384
citations
115
significant & substantial
$651,519
proposed penalties
$340,341
paid to date
52% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $311,178 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
146
inspections on record
4,813
inspection hours
8.0
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.
384 citations across 4,813 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.
$652K
proposed penalties
$550K
current assessed
$340K
paid to date
$210K
outstanding
378 assessments are final orders; 5 contested dockets.
Of $195K in penalties contested before the Commission, $94K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-05-19.
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.
30.1%
significant & substantial
11.3%
high negligence or reckless
30.1%
reasonably likely or greater
30.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 28.3% low, 60.5% moderate, 9.7% high, 1.6% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
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 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 1.49 1.49 0.000
2023 0.68 0.68 0.000
2022 0.63 0.63 0.000
2021 2.99 1.00 0.000
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 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: 2025-05-28
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
671
samples
2.18
dust max (mg/m3)
2
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.
433 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 238 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR260
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR110
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE88

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-12-05
11.0
silica avg (%)
36
samples
56.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR17
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR13
  • CLEANING PLANT OPERATOR3

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: 2025-03-11
1%
over PEL
270
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR68
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE62
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER38
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 · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 7 · 64%
  • Still open 4 · 36%
100%
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 7 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
52%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$195K proposed, $94K 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 2024-10-16. 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
YORK 2010-197 Settlement Koutras 2011 $147K → $74K
YORK 2009-244 Settlement Koutras 2011 $36K → $11K
YORK 2009-56 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $12K → $9K
PENN 2025-0002 Decision pending
PENN 2025-0003 Decision pending
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2024
2
2023
1
2022
1
2021
3

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Heritage Coal & Natural Resources, 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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