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Blue Knob Surface Mine Coal

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Surface

Controlled by White Forest Resources, Inc

Richwood, Greenbrier County, WV · Temporarily Idled

MSHA Mine ID: 4609448

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Blue Knob Surface Mine.

Fatalities: 0
Total incidents: 5
Years on record: 2016–2021
Latest incident: Jan 2021

Compliance record

MSHA citations since 2013

citations

significant & substantial

$24,002

proposed penalties

$15,734

paid to date

Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.

Quarterly safety rates

Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA

Quarter	Hours worked	Citations	Per 1M hrs
2025 Q2	0	0
2024 Q4	0	0
2024 Q1	0	0
2023 Q4	0	1
2023 Q3	0	0
2023 Q1	0	0
2022 Q4	792	1	1262.6
2022 Q2	1,461	0	0.0

Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.

No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

5 on file

2021 · 1 incident

January 6, 2021 WV · Coal utility man, shift tech, service/dump truck operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Victim was assisting with the replacement of a tooth on a loader bucket. Apparently EE's glove froze to the tooth and EE couldn't get EE's hand out of the way in time and EE's finger was caught between the tooth and mount. The tip of EE's left pinky finger was smashed between the two. The nail on EE's finger was removed

2017 · 1 incident

June 5, 2017 WV · Coal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator POWERED HAULAGE

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Struck by falling object

Victim was operating assigned loader. It had been raining a substantial amount. A rock fell from the highwall and struck the windshield of the loader causing dust, dirt & glass to get in EE's eyes. EMT's flushed and bandaged EE's eyes. At the hospital no foreign material was found in EE's eyes but there was minor scratches. Ointment was applied and EE was released.

2016 · 3 incidents

December 16, 2016 WV · Coal utility man, shift tech, service/dump truck operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Fall to the walkway or working surface

The 2nd shift foreman, victim and another person were unhooking and draining the lines from the 8' water pump which had frozen. The water which came out of the water lines froze due to the -5 degree temperatures. Victim was holding onto the bed of the foreman's pickup when EE's feet slipped and EE fell on the ice. EE sustained a fractured left radius.

June 6, 2016 WV · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Victim was parking assigned dozer at the end of shift. EE stated to mine superintendent that EE was dismounting the dozer facing forward instead of backward and foot slipped off the push arm and went between the push arm and the track frame. EE suffered a fractured tibia just below the right knee. Surgery was done the next day to repair the damage.

April 13, 2016 WV · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer DUST DISEASE OF LUNGS

South Fork Coal Co., LLC · Inhalation of radiations, caustics, toxic and noxious substances

We were notified on 04/13/2016 that employee had been ruled compensable for a black lung claim. Employee's employment at this mine ended due to a lack of work on 05/05/2015.