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North Fork Coal Corporation: 2,388 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
MSHA operator ID: P22905

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
320
Mines on record
8
Years on record
1995–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
2,388
citations
715
significant & substantial
$1,864,502
proposed penalties
$1,392,559
paid to date
75% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $471,943 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
620
inspections on record
33,672
inspection hours
7.1
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.
2,388 citations across 33,672 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.
$1.9M
proposed penalties
$1.4M
current assessed
$1.4M
paid to date
$0
outstanding
2,319 assessments are final orders; 173 contested dockets.
Of $1.7M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.2M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-06-24.
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.
30.8%
significant & substantial
1.5%
high negligence or reckless
32.7%
reasonably likely or greater
13.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 6.2% low, 92.3% moderate, 1.4% 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.
9.04
total case rate
9.04
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.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2015 * 9.04 9.04 0.000
2014 14.36 7.18 0.000
2013 36.67 3.26 0.000
2012 10.43 7.69 0.000
2011 5.18 1.41 0.000
2010 6.84 1.58 0.000
2009 9.07 3.02 0.000
2008 15.33 6.39 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: 2015-05-27, 11 years ago
93%
within 1.5 mg/m3
2,837
samples
10.07
dust max (mg/m3)
10
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.
1,334 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1,503 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,312
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)223
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)117

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2015-05-14, 11 years ago
9.1
silica avg (%)
233
samples
34.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR96
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: 2015-04-02, 11 years ago
15%
over PEL
362
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)71
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR63
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)51
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.
846 citations taken to the federal commission · 35% of citations on record
  • Settled 697 · 82%
  • Stood as issued 149 · 18%
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 493 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
29%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.6M proposed, $1.2M 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 2015-06-23. 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 2009-1187 Settlement Weisberger 2012 $175K → $70K
KENT 2008-1309 Settlement Weisberger 2012 $143K → $70K
KENT 2009-1443 Settlement Rae 2011 $70K → $50K
KENT 2009-605 Settlement Weisberger 2012 $67K → $43K
KENT 2009-772 Settlement Feldman 2012 $60K → $48K
KENT 2012-169 Dismissal Lesnick 2012 $60K → $60K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2015
4
2014
19
2013
48
2012
23
2011
15
2010
17
2009
27
2008
31
2007
19
2006
22
2005
11
2004
15
2003
5
2002
4
2001
4
2000
15
1999
7
1998
10
1997
9
1996
8
1995
7

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where North Fork Coal Corporation 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.

See a sample report
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