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West Virginia Mine Power, Inc.: 2,723 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by John B Preece
MSHA operator ID: 0077603

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
216
Mines on record
8
Years on record
2007–2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2007
2,723
citations
647
significant & substantial
$2,617,313
proposed penalties
$1,678,200
paid to date
64% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $939,113 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
350
inspections on record
30,856
inspection hours
8.8
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.
2,723 citations across 30,856 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.
$2.6M
proposed penalties
$1.7M
current assessed
$1.7M
paid to date
$0
outstanding
2,677 assessments are final orders; 178 contested dockets.
Of $2.1M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.2M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-05-26.
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.
24.2%
significant & substantial
5.8%
high negligence or reckless
25.2%
reasonably likely or greater
36.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 6.5% low, 87.6% moderate, 5.5% high, 0.3% 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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below 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 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2013 9.07 7.12 0.000
2012 10.19 7.35 0.000
2011 9.02 5.58 0.000
2010 5.59 2.92 0.000
2009 3.38 0.92 0.000
2008 6.44 4.39 0.000
2007 4.81 3.70 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: 2014-12-29, 11 years ago
93%
within 1.5 mg/m3
2,337
samples
14.50
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.
1,109 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1,228 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,152
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)186
  • ROOF BOLTER (SINGLE HEAD)141

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2013-08-06, 13 years ago
9.4
silica avg (%)
118
samples
61.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR75
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR10
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)6
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: 2014-12-15, 11 years ago
16%
over PEL
356
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR47
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)43
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR35
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.
1,045 citations taken to the federal commission · 38% of citations on record
  • Settled 1,000 · 96%
  • Stood as issued 45 · 4%
72%
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 489 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
45%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2.1M proposed, $1.1M 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 2014-02-12. 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
WEVA 2012-280 Settlement Zielinski 2013 $541K → $247K
WEVA 2012-1607 Settlement Zielinski 2013 $187K → $132K
WEVA 2012-854 Settlement Zielinski 2013 $158K → $20K
WEVA 2009-1807 Settlement Moran 2013 $140K → $70K
WEVA 2011-1743 Settlement Lesnick 2012 $72K → $41K
WEVA 2011-2203 Settlement Miller 2012 $52K → $35K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2014
1
2013
18
2012
49
2011
44
2010
25
2009
16
2008
32
2007
31

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where West Virginia Mine Power, 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.

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