Little Buck Coal Company: 219 MSHA citations operator
Controlled by
Ronald Bender; Edmund C Neidlinger
MSHA operator ID: P15251
Watch this operator
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Little Buck Coal Company mine.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 2
- Mines on record
- 2
- Years on record
- 1992–2001
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
219
citations
79
significant & substantial
$156,403
proposed penalties
$19,374
paid to date
12% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $137,029 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
302
inspections on record
7,318
inspection hours
3.0
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.219 citations across 7,318 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.$156K
proposed penalties
$117K
current assessed
$19K
paid to date
$97K
outstanding
205 assessments are final orders; 38 contested dockets.
Of $200K in penalties contested before the Commission, $47K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-04-14.
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.37.8%
significant & substantial
15.5%
high negligence or reckless
37.2%
reasonably likely or greater
18.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.5% none, 19.3% low, 64.7% moderate, 15.5% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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: 2021-06-18, 5 years ago
ⓘ
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.100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,039
samples
1.89
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.388 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 651 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
- HAND LOADERS661
- LABORER184
- HOIST ENGINEER/OPERATOR70
Silica (quartz)
Last sampled: 2019-03-22, 7 years ago17.2
silica avg (%)
10
samples
55.5
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
- HAND LOADERS8
- HOIST ENGINEER/OPERATOR1
- LABORER1
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: 2021-04-19, 5 years ago
ⓘ
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.1%
over PEL
122
samples
Most-sampled occupations
- LABORER47
- HOIST ENGINEER/OPERATOR36
- HAND LOADERS26
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.
63
citations taken to the federal commission · 29% of citations on record
- Settled 26 · 41%
- Stood as issued 37 · 59%
97%
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 34 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
47%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$84K proposed, $45K 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 2015-10-14. 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 2009-12 | Vacate | Zielinski | 2010 | $101K → $0 |
| PENN 2008-132 | Settlement | Feldman | 2009 | $42K → $9K |
| PENN 2009-45 | Default | Lesnick | 2010 | $16K → $16K |
| PENN 2011-233 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2011 | $13K → $3K |
| PENN 2015-0232 | Prevail | Rae | 2017 | $8K → $8K |
| PENN 2008-630 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2010 | $4K → $224 |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 1 non-fatal
- INUNDATION 1 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2001
1
1992
1
Mines on record
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Little Buck Coal Company 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.