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Knight Hawk Coal, LLC: 2 recorded fatalities operator

Controlled by CBR Investments, LLC; CBR Investments II, LLC
MSHA operator ID: P23970

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Fatalities
2
Total incidents
519
Mines on record
9
Years on record
1998–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2001
4,386
citations
870
significant & substantial
$2,849,754
proposed penalties
$2,198,823
paid to date
77% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $650,931 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
1,081
inspections on record
81,451
inspection hours
5.4
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.
4,386 citations across 81,451 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.
$2.8M
proposed penalties
$2.4M
current assessed
$2.2M
paid to date
$190K
outstanding
4,073 assessments are final orders; 132 contested dockets.
Of $1.4M in penalties contested before the Commission, $876K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-07-13.
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.
20.3%
significant & substantial
4.1%
high negligence or reckless
20.4%
reasonably likely or greater
18.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 11.8% low, 84.1% moderate, 4.1% high, 0.0% 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.
10.10
total case rate
6.73
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 9.26 5.44 0.000
2025 10.10 6.73 0.000
2024 5.66 3.34 0.000
2023 3.57 2.55 0.000
2022 5.86 2.93 0.000
2021 8.04 5.66 0.000
2020 7.84 4.82 0.000
2019 4.99 2.99 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: 2026-08-20
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
19,403
samples
8.87
dust max (mg/m3)
23
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.
4,086 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 15,317 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)6,873
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4,576
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)3,700

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-08-04
3.8
silica avg (%)
1,109
samples
29.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)376
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR290
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)195
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: 2026-07-08
10%
over PEL
1,276
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR177
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR165
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)153
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.
431 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Settled 415 · 96%
  • Stood as issued 5 · 1%
  • Still open 11 · 3%
87%
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 373 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
35%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.3M proposed, $870K 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 2026-04-02. 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
LAKE 2014-0575 Prevail 2016 $70K → $70K
LAKE 2016-0489 Vacate Rae 2018 $68K → $0
LAKE 2022-0226 Settlement Moran 2023 $59K → $44K
LAKE 2019-0157 Settlement McCarthy 2019 $57K → $31K
LAKE 2011-326 Settlement Miller 2012 $45K → $36K
LAKE 2026-0003 Settlement Paez 2026 $45K → $14K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
21
2025
44
2024
30
2023
21
2022
29
2021
35
2020
35
2019
45
2018
17
2017
21
2016
18
2015
22
2014
12
2013
22 (1f)
2012
25
2011
28
2010
14
2009
23 (1f)
2008
19
2007
9
2006
5
2005
2
2004
2
2003
5
2002
7
2001
5
2000
1
1999
1
1998
1

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

2 recorded
February 13, 2013 IL · Coal continuous miner operator, coal mole operator Fatality · MACHINERY
Knight Hawk Coal LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

At approximately 8:35pm the miner operator was fatally injured when he caught himself between the tail of the miner and the coal rib.

February 17, 2009 IL · Coal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Knight Hawk Coal, LLC · Struck by falling object

A truck driver was delivering a load of lumber to the mine site. While the fork truck operator was unloading the truck, the truck driver walked around the other side of the truck when the fork truck operator accidentally pushed over a bundle of lumber, crushing the truck driver fatally.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Knight Hawk 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.

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