McCoy Elkhorn Coal Co.: 335 MSHA citations operator
Controlled by
Opes Resources Inc
MSHA operator ID: 0135133
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any McCoy Elkhorn Coal Co. mine.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 22
- Mines on record
- 3
- Years on record
- 2014–2016
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
335
citations
60
significant & substantial
$60,655
proposed penalties
$43,664
paid to date
72% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $16,991 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2014
87
inspections on record
4,944
inspection hours
6.8
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.335 citations across 4,944 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.$115K
proposed penalties
$74K
current assessed
$44K
paid to date
$30K
outstanding
325 assessments are final orders; 8 contested dockets.
Of $77K in penalties contested before the Commission, $36K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-11-08.
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.18.5%
significant & substantial
3.1%
high negligence or reckless
18.5%
reasonably likely or greater
10.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 21.0% low, 75.9% moderate, 3.1% high, 0.0% 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.5.51
total case rate
3.01
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 | 5.51 | 3.01 | 0.000 |
| 2014 * | 5.59 | 2.79 | 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: 2016-01-07, 10 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.99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
345
samples
6.16
dust max (mg/m3)
3
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.138 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 207 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR135
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)37
- ELECTRICIAN18
Silica (quartz)
Last sampled: 2015-09-28, 10 years ago5.7
silica avg (%)
41
samples
11.2
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR15
- ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4
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: 2015-09-01, 10 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.12%
over PEL
51
samples
Most-sampled occupations
- SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)9
- CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR6
- UTILITY MAN6
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.
37
citations taken to the federal commission · 11% of citations on record
- Settled 36 · 97%
- Stood as issued 1 · 3%
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 10 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
26%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$23K proposed, $17K 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 2017-04-17. 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 2017-0028 | Settlement | Bulluck | 2017 | $54K → $19K |
| KENT 2017-0210 | Settlement | Simonton | 2017 | $16K → $11K |
| KENT 2017-0060 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2017 | $4K → $3K |
| KENT 2016-0505 | Settlement | Andrews | 2017 | $1K → $1K |
| KENT 2017-0066 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2017 | $1K → $1K |
| KENT 2016-0465 | Dismissal | Miller | 2016 | $127 → $127 |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- FALL OF ROOF OR BACK 7 non-fatal
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 5 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 3 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 3 non-fatal
- HOISTING 2 non-fatal
- DUST DISEASE OF LUNGS 1 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2016
2
2015
17
2014
3
Mines on record
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where McCoy Elkhorn Coal Co. 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.