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Heritage Coal Company LLC: 2,536 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Patriot Coal Corporation
MSHA operator ID: P24180

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Heritage Coal Company LLC mine.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
502
Mines on record
10
Years on record
1998–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
2,536
citations
599
significant & substantial
$475,479
proposed penalties
$355,269
paid to date
75% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $120,210 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
852
inspections on record
27,794
inspection hours
9.1
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.
2,536 citations across 27,794 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.
$475K
proposed penalties
$406K
current assessed
$355K
paid to date
$51K
outstanding
2,494 assessments are final orders; 61 contested dockets.
Of $187K in penalties contested before the Commission, $105K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-09-17.
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.
23.9%
significant & substantial
4.8%
high negligence or reckless
24.0%
reasonably likely or greater
3.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 8.1% low, 86.9% moderate, 4.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2014
ⓘ 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.
11.58
total case rate
6.95
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.96 and the all-US-mining average was 2.93 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
2014 * 11.58 6.95 0.000
2013 3.44 3.44 0.000
2012 7.77 4.66 0.000
2011 1.59 0.00 0.000
2010 6.51 4.88 0.000
2009 4.69 3.13 0.000
2008 8.00 4.80 0.000
2007 2.48 2.48 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: 2014-11-08, 11 years ago
83%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,164
samples
8.00
dust max (mg/m3)
0
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.
691 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 473 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR325
  • LONGWALL(RETURN-SIDE FACE WORKER)98
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)96

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2002-10-01, 23 years ago
1.6
silica avg (%)
92
samples
4.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR40
  • LONGWALL(RETURN-SIDE FACE WORKER)13
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2
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: 2014-03-10, 12 years ago
17%
over PEL
242
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • MECHANIC43
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)26
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR23
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.
65 citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 65 · 100%
78%
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 45 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
45%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$136K proposed, $75K 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 2015-04-29. 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 2015-0413 Settlement Miller 2015 $100K → $50K
KENT20000275 Settlement Bulluck 2001 $10K → $7K
KENT 2012-1437 Settlement Miller 2013 $8K → $6K
KENT20020095 Settlement Bulluck 2002 $6K → $2K
KENT20020245 Settlement Bulluck 2002 $6K → $6K
KENT 2014-0771 Settlement Miller 2015 $4K → $2K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2015
1
2014
10
2013
2
2012
6
2011
1
2010
4
2009
4
2008
5
2007
3
2006
3
2005
5
2004
6
2003
10
2002
72
2001
91
2000
57
1999
128
1998
94

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Heritage Coal Company LLC 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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