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Leeco Incorporated: 2 recorded fatalities operator

Controlled by James River Coal Company
MSHA operator ID: P23186

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Fatalities
2
Total incidents
514
Mines on record
6
Years on record
1995–2011
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
5,650
citations
1,652
significant & substantial
$4,213,607
proposed penalties
$3,169,958
paid to date
75% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,043,649 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
771
inspections on record
37,830
inspection hours
14.9
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.
5,650 citations across 37,830 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.
$4.2M
proposed penalties
$3.2M
current assessed
$3.2M
paid to date
$34K
outstanding
5,561 assessments are final orders; 108 contested dockets.
Of $2.8M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.8M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2011-12-08.
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.
29.7%
significant & substantial
1.5%
high negligence or reckless
34.5%
reasonably likely or greater
9.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 3.3% low, 95.1% moderate, 1.5% high, 0.1% 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.
6.15
total case rate
2.05
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 6.15 2.05 0.000
2010 7.76 4.09 0.409
2009 3.37 1.69 0.000
2008 5.38 1.96 0.000
2007 6.79 4.18 0.000
2006 8.47 2.49 0.000
2005 7.04 2.71 0.000
2004 13.07 7.39 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: 2011-12-13, 14 years ago
91%
within 1.5 mg/m3
4,012
samples
7.09
dust max (mg/m3)
1,960 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 2,052 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,220
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR518
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)179

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2011-12-15, 14 years ago
5.2
silica avg (%)
447
samples
27.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR138
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR22
  • CLEANUP MAN12
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: 2011-12-09, 14 years ago
5%
over PEL
430
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR58
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR54
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)37
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.
776 citations taken to the federal commission · 14% of citations on record
  • Settled 682 · 88%
  • Stood as issued 94 · 12%
96%
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 654 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
36%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2.7M proposed, $1.7M 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 2012-07-10. 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 2011-549 Settlement Paez 2013 $149K → $112K
KENT 2012-167 Settlement McCarthy 2013 $146K → $100K
KENT 2011-548 Settlement Paez 2012 $145K → $30K
KENT 2010-1126 Prevail Gill 2014 $138K → $800
KENT 2011-369 Dismissal Gill 2011 $109K → $87K
KENT 2011-1093 Prevail Barbour 2013 $108K → $70K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2011
15
2010
21 (1f)
2009
11
2008
12
2007
24
2006
25
2005
25
2004
36
2003
37
2002
46
2001
26
2000
32
1999
39
1998
69 (1f)
1997
39
1996
35
1995
22

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

2 recorded
June 24, 2010 KY · Coal continuous miner operator, coal mole operator Fatality · MACHINERY
Leeco Incorporated · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Employee got caught between the continuous miner and the coal rib suffering fatal injuries.

March 2, 1998 KY · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) Fatality · FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Leeco Inc · Struck by falling object

EMPLOYEE WAS SETTING A SAFETY JACK IN THE NO.3 ENTRY WHEN A PIECE OF DRAWROCK FELL AND STRUCK HIM.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Leeco Incorporated 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.

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