# Kepler No. 1 Prep Plant

- **MSHA mine ID:** 4604637
- **Status:** Active
- **Type / commodity:** Facility / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Wyoming, WV
- **Operator:** Kepler Processing Company LLC
- **Controller:** Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc
- **Public source rows linked:** 6,037
- **Source coverage:** 17 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-17T06:17:15.228Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (0127321) → Kepler Processing Company LLC (P23202) → Kepler No. 1 Prep Plant (4604637)**

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

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Nippon Kokan K K et al → National Mines Corp:** 1975-07-15 through 1995-05-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Catherine  Childress et al → Keyrock Energy Inc:** 1995-06-01 through 1995-06-28; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Joe (John J)  Childress et al → Keyrock Energy Inc:** 1995-06-01 through 1995-06-28; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **American Metals & Coal International Inc → Kepler Processing Company LLC:** 1995-06-29 through 2003-03-10; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. → Kepler Processing Company LLC:** 2003-03-11 through 2016-07-25; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc → Kepler Processing Company LLC:** 2016-07-26 through 2018-11-08; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc → Kepler Processing Company LLC:** 2018-11-09 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 4604637; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 7
- Typed edges: 16
- Interval anomalies: 0
- 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: 2026-10-17T05:35:58.500035+00:00.

## Assessment signals

1. **SAFETY — 3 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 64 historical accident/injury rows; 0 coded fatalities and 1,957 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 85 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 558 violation rows across the full record; 134 carry an S&S flag and $115,467 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 1K samples:** Occupational health samples 771 coal dust; 110 coal quartz; 150 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 26 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 2K employee hours and 4 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.
5. **LEGAL — 152 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 55 contested-violation rows, 55 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 42 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 23 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 — 44 since 2021:** Inspections 189 inspection events and 6K published inspection hours across the historical record.

## EIA annual operating context

- **Reporting year:** 2024
- **Production:** 0 short tons
- **Labor hours:** 25,930
- **Average employees:** 11
- **Coal supply region:** Appalachia Central
- **Union code:** United Mine Workers Of America
- **Published rows under this MSHA ID:** 1

## Recent Title 30 crosswalk

Snapshot current through 2026-08-19.

- **30 CFR 77.216-3 — Water, sediment, or slurry impoundments and impounding structures; inspection requirements; correction of hazards; program requirements.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-C/section-77.216-3
- **30 CFR 77.204 — Openings in surface installations; safeguards.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-C/section-77.204
- **30 CFR 77.1606 — Loading and haulage equipment; inspection and maintenance.** (5 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1606
- **30 CFR 77.404 — Machinery and equipment; operation and maintenance.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.404
- **30 CFR 77.205 — Travelways at surface installations.** (3 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-C/section-77.205
- **30 CFR 77.1104 — Accumulations of combustible materials.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-L/section-77.1104

## Source coverage

- **Accident, Injuries, and Illnesses:** 64 rows; 2000-04-11 through 2024-09-05; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 1995-07-17 through 1995-07-17; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 554 rows; 2000-02-17 through 2026-07-14; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisions:** 55 rows; 2008-05-15 through 2016-05-05; source ID `msha-civil-penalty-dockets-decisions`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 771 rows; 2000-01-17 through 2026-09-11; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Conferences:** 42 rows; 2001-02-07 through 2026-03-19; source ID `msha-conferences`
- **Contested Violations:** 55 rows; 2007-02-20 through 2014-06-25; source ID `msha-contested-violations`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 2,843 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 573 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 7 rows; 1975-07-15 through 1995-06-29; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 189 rows; 2000-01-11 through 2026-10-01; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 24 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 40 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 150 rows; 2000-01-12 through 2026-03-09; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 110 rows; 2000-06-20 through 2026-06-18; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 558 rows; 2000-02-17 through 2026-09-15; 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/kepler-no-1-prep-plant-4604637`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/kepler-no-1-prep-plant-4604637`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/4604637/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/4604637/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://4604637/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`