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Western Fuels-Wyoming Inc: 86 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Western Fuels Association Inc
MSHA operator ID: P20539

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
77
Mines on record
1
Years on record
1990–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
86
citations
6
significant & substantial
$61,595
proposed penalties
$51,966
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $9,629 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
102
inspections on record
3,746
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.
86 citations across 3,746 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.
$62K
proposed penalties
$54K
current assessed
$52K
paid to date
$3K
outstanding
81 assessments are final orders; 17 contested dockets.
Of $54K in penalties contested before the Commission, $45K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-10-12.
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.
7.2%
significant & substantial
2.4%
high negligence or reckless
8.4%
reasonably likely or greater
19.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 1.2% none, 41.0% low, 55.4% moderate, 2.4% 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
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 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2025 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 1.72 1.72 0.000
2021 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 4.58 1.53 0.000
2019 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: 2026-07-29
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
432
samples
0.95
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.
281 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 151 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR167
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR79
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER47

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2024-09-17
8.0
silica avg (%)
14
samples
14.1
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR10
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2
  • COAL TRUCK DRIVER1
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: 2025-10-07
2%
over PEL
188
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR44
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER29
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE21
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.
29 citations taken to the federal commission · 34% of citations on record
  • Settled 26 · 90%
  • Stood as issued 2 · 7%
  • Still open 1 · 3%
23%
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 13 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
14%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$52K proposed, $45K 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 2026-01-12. 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
WEST 2010-1017 Settlement Miller 2010 $40K → $35K
WEST 2013-437 Settlement Manning 2013 $3K → $2K
WEST 2010-858 Settlement Manning 2013 $3K → $2K
WEST 2014-0704 Settlement Manning 2014 $2K → $2K
WEST 2010-1538 Withdrawal Zielinski 2011 $2K → $0
WEST 2013-469 Settlement Manning 2013 $1K → $1K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
2
2022
1
2021
1
2020
4
2019
3
2018
1
2017
2
2016
1
2015
4
2013
3
2012
5
2010
3
2009
2
2007
2
2006
2
2005
2
2004
1
2003
6
2002
6
2001
4
2000
3
1999
1
1995
2
1994
2
1993
4
1992
2
1991
6
1990
2

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Western Fuels-Wyoming 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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