89% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $144,461 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
453
inspections on record
33,570
inspection hours
4.7
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.
1,575 citations across 33,570 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.
$1.3M
proposed penalties
$1.2M
current assessed
$1.2M
paid to date
$45K
outstanding
1,516 assessments are final orders; 53 contested dockets.
Of $652K in penalties contested before the Commission, $512K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-08.
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.
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.
0.45
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2026
1.15
0.69
0.000
2025
0.45
0.00
0.000
2024
0.63
0.31
0.000
2023
0.78
0.52
0.000
2022
0.59
0.34
0.000
2021
0.57
0.29
0.096
2020
0.09
0.09
0.000
2019
0.46
0.08
0.000
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: 2026-08-05
98%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,799
samples
5.63
dust max (mg/m3)
4
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.
894 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 905 by the operator.
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.
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.
90citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
Settled
73 · 81%
Still open
17 · 19%
75%
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 60 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
17%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$550K proposed, $455K 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 2026-08-02. 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.
Thunder Basin Coal Company LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
The technician was assisting in moving a 2800 P&H shovel when the machine lost propel capabilities. The machine then rolled in reverse striking the pickup driven by the technician causing fatal injuries.
February 20, 2003WY · Coalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorFatality · SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Thunder Basin Coal Company LLC · Fall to lower level, (Not Elsewhere Classified)
AFTER OVERSEEING THE ACTIVITIES OF CONTRACTORS WORKING ON THE BELT 614 LEVEL, EMPLOYEE LEFT AND WENT UP THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS TO THE 612 BELT LEVEL WHERE THE ELEVATOR TO THE SURFACE WAS LOCA TED. WITHIN A MINUTE OR TWO OF LEAVING, HE FELL THROUGH A 4X4 OPENING THAT HAD BEEN USED TO LOWER PARTS. THE HOLE HAD FLAGGING AT ALL ENTRIES AT LEAST 4' FROM THE EDGE. HE FELL 19' TO THE BEL
February 20, 2002WY · Coalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerFatality · FALL OF FACE/RIB/PILLAR/SIDE/HIGHWALL
Thunder Basin Coal Company LLC · Struck by falling object
EE WAS CLEANING UP AROUND THE 8 SHOVEL. EYEWITNESS SAYS "A LARGE ROCK CAME DOWN AND HIT THE 86 DIRECTLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROPS...SMASHING THE CAB." EE WAS KILLED INSTANTANEOUSLY BY THE IMPACT ACCORDING TO THE DEPUTY CORONER.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Thunder Basin 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.