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McCoy Elkhorn Coal Co.: 1,733 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by American Resources Corporation
MSHA operator ID: 0150473

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
47
Mines on record
3
Years on record
2016–2019
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2016
1,733
citations
381
significant & substantial
$864,827
proposed penalties
$279,581
paid to date
32% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $585,246 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2016
343
inspections on record
18,548
inspection hours
9.3
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.
1,733 citations across 18,548 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.
$811K
proposed penalties
$722K
current assessed
$280K
paid to date
$442K
outstanding
1,690 assessments are final orders; 41 contested dockets.
Of $348K in penalties contested before the Commission, $256K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-07-22.
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.
22.5%
significant & substantial
10.2%
high negligence or reckless
22.5%
reasonably likely or greater
23.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 6.5% low, 83.3% moderate, 10.2% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2019
ⓘ 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.
6.43
total case rate
2.57
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2019 6.43 2.57 0.000
2018 7.02 5.40 0.000
2017 6.94 5.64 0.000
2016 * 11.71 5.86 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: 2023-06-09, 3 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,723
samples
2.84
dust max (mg/m3)
15
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.
323 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1,400 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR545
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)466
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)305

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2019-10-17, 6 years ago
7.4
silica avg (%)
82
samples
23.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR29
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)20
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)14
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: 2023-06-09, 3 years ago
7%
over PEL
164
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)37
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR20
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR19
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.
693 citations taken to the federal commission · 40% of citations on record
  • Settled 675 · 97%
  • Stood as issued 18 · 3%
99%
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 172 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
31%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$401K proposed, $276K 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 2021-10-06. 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 2018-0396 Settlement Moran 2019 $75K → $53K
KENT 2019-0030 Settlement Moran 2019 $62K → $44K
KENT 2019-0032 Settlement Moran 2019 $38K → $22K
KENT 2017-0281 Settlement Simonton 2018 $29K → $26K
KENT 2019-0031 Settlement Miller 2019 $14K → $10K
KENT 2020-0078 Settlement Moran 2020 $13K → $8K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2019
11
2018
14
2017
18
2016
4

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.

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