# Big Branch

- **MSHA mine ID:** 1518558
- **Status:** Abandoned
- **Type / commodity:** Surface / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Knott, KY
- **Operator:** Enterprise Mining Company LLC
- **Controller:** Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc
- **Public source rows linked:** 2,104
- **Source coverage:** 17 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-13T11:26:59.401Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc (0127923) → Enterprise Mining Company LLC (0051027) → Big Branch (1518558)**

Current identity source: `msha-mines`. This is a current snapshot, not a historical claim.

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Progress Energy Inc → Diamond May Coal Co Inc:** 2002-07-17 through 2006-05-04; derived from co-tenure at mine 1518558; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. → Enterprise Mining Company LLC:** 2006-05-05 through 2016-07-25; derived from co-tenure at mine 1518558; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Amfire LLC → Enterprise Mining Company LLC:** 2006-05-05 through 2003-01-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 1518558; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc → Enterprise Mining Company LLC:** 2016-07-26 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 1518558; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 4
- Typed edges: 10
- Interval anomalies: 1
- Valid-time bounds: inclusive; date granularity; null end means open-ended in the upstream history row; not independent proof of present control.
- Transaction-time observation: 2026-10-13T11:19:05.459773+00:00.

## Assessment signals

1. **SAFETY — 0 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 16 historical accident/injury rows; 0 coded fatalities and 268 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 0 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 161 violation rows across the full record; 60 carry an S&S flag and $33,535 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 164 samples:** Occupational health samples 109 coal dust; 2 coal quartz; 53 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 3 noise rows have an action-level or PEL dose above 100%. These are separate measures, not a silica exceedance count. Silica results and sample status are shown separately.
4. **PRODUCTION — 0 tons:** Quarterly production and employment 0 employee hours and 0 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.
5. **LEGAL — 21 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 1 contested-violation rows, 1 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 19 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 10 linked entities:** Contractors Contractors are linked through this mine’s violation or accident records. Their production and hours cover all their operations, so they are not included in this mine’s totals.
7. **INSPECTIONS — 0 since 2021:** Inspections 42 inspection events and 2K published inspection hours across the historical record.

## EIA annual operating context

No matched record in the 2024 EIA coal-public workbook. This may be inapplicable for a non-coal operation.

## Recent Title 30 crosswalk

Snapshot current through 2026-08-19.

- **30 CFR 71.400 — Bathing facilities; change rooms; sanitary flush toilet facilities.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-71/subpart-E/section-71.400
- **30 CFR 77.404 — Machinery and equipment; operation and maintenance.** (7 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.404
- **30 CFR 77.1104 — Accumulations of combustible materials.** (3 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-L/section-77.1104
- **30 CFR 72.620 — Drill dust control at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-72/subpart-E/section-72.620

## Source coverage

- **Accident, Injuries, and Illnesses:** 16 rows; 2003-10-28 through 2008-04-29; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 2010-05-25 through 2010-05-25; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 161 rows; 2002-08-22 through 2009-08-13; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisions:** 1 rows; 2011-01-14 through 2011-01-14; source ID `msha-civil-penalty-dockets-decisions`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 109 rows; 2003-01-07 through 2009-04-28; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Conferences:** 19 rows; 2003-10-06 through 2008-01-29; source ID `msha-conferences`
- **Contested Violations:** 1 rows; 2008-10-28 through 2008-10-28; source ID `msha-contested-violations`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 1,243 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 250 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 4 rows; 2002-07-17 through 2006-05-05; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 42 rows; 2002-07-30 through 2010-05-24; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 32 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 8 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 53 rows; 2003-01-07 through 2009-02-24; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 2 rows; 2008-06-16 through 2008-07-14; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 161 rows; 2002-08-22 through 2009-08-13; source ID `msha-violations`

## Caveats

- This is public-record decision support, not legal advice or an official MSHA record.
- Missing data can indicate no event, publication delay, an unresolved identity, or inapplicability.
- Contractor production data is entity-level and is not attributed to this mine.

## Alternate representations

- HTML: `/mines/big-branch-1518558`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/big-branch-1518558`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/1518558/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/1518558/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://1518558/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`