Mining Incidents

Southfork Coal Company: 1 recorded fatality operator

Controlled by Kenneth L Stacy
MSHA operator ID: P22180

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Fatalities
1
Total incidents
3
Mines on record
1
Years on record
1993–1996
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2007
43
citations
14
significant & substantial
$8,939
proposed penalties
$6,348
paid to date
71% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,591 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
136
inspections on record
1,873
inspection hours
2.3
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.
43 citations across 1,873 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.
$9K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
41 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $3K in penalties contested before the Commission, $808 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2020-07-30.
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.
34.1%
significant & substantial
2.4%
high negligence or reckless
34.1%
reasonably likely or greater
9.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.8% low, 87.8% moderate, 2.4% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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.

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: 2018-08-27, 7 years ago
0%
over PEL
2
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • MINE FOREMAN/MINE MANAGER1
  • OUTSIDE FOREMAN1
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.
3 citations taken to the federal commission · 7% of citations on record
  • Settled 3 · 100%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
76%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$3K proposed, $808 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 2020-10-15. 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 2021-0009 Settlement Paez 2021 $2K → $308
KENT 2014-0342 Settlement Simonton 2014 $1K → $500
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

1996
1
1993
2 (1f)

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

1 recorded
January 7, 1993 KY · Coal assayer, geologist, metallurgist, engineer, engineer management Fatality · ELECTRICAL
Southfork Coal Company · Contact with electrical current

I.NAME WORKING ON ENERGIZED HIGH VOLTAGE LINE. EMPL WAS A CONTRACTOR WORKING FROM BUCKET TRUCK WHEN EMPL CAME IN CONTACT WITH POWER.

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Where Southfork Coal Company 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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