Sherman Mountain Coal Company Inc.: 132 MSHA citations operator
Controlled by
William C Vought
MSHA operator ID: P22844
Watch this operator
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Sherman Mountain Coal Company Inc. mine.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 1
- Mines on record
- 1
- Years on record
- 2001
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
132
citations
33
significant & substantial
$18,646
proposed penalties
$18,436
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $210 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
132
inspections on record
3,102
inspection hours
4.3
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.132 citations across 3,102 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.$19K
proposed penalties
$18K
current assessed
$18K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
129 assessments are final orders; 8 contested dockets.
Of $1K in penalties contested before the Commission, $893 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-30.
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.25.0%
significant & substantial
0.8%
high negligence or reckless
25.0%
reasonably likely or greater
20.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 36.4% low, 62.9% moderate, 0.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ
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.0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2024 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2023 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2013 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2012 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 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: 2026-08-20
ⓘ
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
278
samples
2.04
dust max (mg/m3)
1
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.223 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 55 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
- LABORER/BLACKSMITH110
- CLEANING PLANT OPERATOR66
- HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER47
Silica (quartz)
Last sampled: 2026-08-191.6
silica avg (%)
43
samples
9.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
- CLEANING PLANT OPERATOR21
- LABORER/BLACKSMITH19
- BULLDOZER OPERATOR3
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: 2026-08-11
ⓘ
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.6%
over PEL
151
samples
Most-sampled occupations
- LABORER/BLACKSMITH61
- CLEANING PLANT OPERATOR31
- HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER27
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.
8
citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
- Settled 8 · 100%
29%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$560 proposed, $400 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 2008-05-06. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PENN20030044 | Default | Barbour | 2003 | $433 → $433 |
| PENN 2008-359 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2008 | $200 → $200 |
| PENN 2007-48 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2007 | $180 → $100 |
| PENN20010061 | Settlement | Barbour | 2001 | $110 → $60 |
| PENN 2010-279 | Dismissal | Harner | 2011 | $100 → $0 |
| PENN 2006-152 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2006 | $60 → $35 |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- DUST DISEASE OF LUNGS 1 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2001
1
Mines on record
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Sherman Mountain Coal Company Inc. 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.