MSHA $100,000 Club of Safety Citations

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) — www.msha.gov — has proposed penalties in excess of $100,000 for the following recent alleged failures to protect workers from potential hazards. Companies have 30 business days from receipt of their citations and fines to appeal:

• American Coal Company's Galatia Mine, Saline County, Ill., $1.46 million for nine flagrant violations; the mine is a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp., which is controlled by Robert E. Murray. Murray Energy also controls the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah, where six miners and three rescuers died during an August 2007 disaster.

• Kingwood Mining Company's Whitetail Kittanning Mine, Preston County, W.Va., $736,300 for repeated violations over a year.

• Big River Mining LLC, owner of the Broad Run Mine, Mason County, W.Va., $291,600 for violations based on coal dust accumulations and the company's failure to follow an approved ventilation plan for the mine.

• Bresee Trucking and Guest Mountain Mining Corp., Wise County, Va., $210,000 in penalties related to a vehicular accident that left a contract truck driver permanently disabled.

• River Hill Coal Co. Inc., $177,300 for significant accumulations of coal float dust, and unsafe operating conditions at the River Hill Tipple, Clearfield County, Pa.

• Triad Electric & Control Inc., a contractor at the Cemex Balconies cement plant, Comal County, Texas, $135,000 after an investigation uncovered violations by the contractor.