# Blue Knob Surface Mine

- **MSHA mine ID:** 4609448
- **Status:** Temporarily Idled
- **Type / commodity:** Surface / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Greenbrier, WV
- **Operator:** South Fork Coal Co., LLC
- **Controller:** White Forest Resources, Inc
- **Public source rows linked:** 1,472
- **Source coverage:** 16 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-13T11:26:59.401Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**White Forest Resources, Inc (0133023) → South Fork Coal Co., LLC (0120035) → Blue Knob Surface Mine (4609448)**

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

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Xinergy Ltd → South Fork Coal Co., LLC:** 2012-03-02 through 2016-02-09; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609448; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **White Forest Resources, Inc → South Fork Coal Co., LLC:** 2016-02-10 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609448; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 2
- Typed edges: 5
- 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: 2026-10-13T11:19:05.459773+00:00.

## Assessment signals

1. **SAFETY — 1 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 5 historical accident/injury rows; 0 coded fatalities and 214 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 4 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 66 violation rows across the full record; 9 carry an S&S flag and $15,734 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 424 samples:** Occupational health samples 333 coal dust; 27 coal quartz; 64 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 0 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 — 44 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 22 contested-violation rows, 22 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 0 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 5 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 — 17 since 2021:** Inspections 60 inspection events and 3K 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 71.206 — Quarterly sampling; designated work positions.** (2 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-71/subpart-C/section-71.206
- **30 CFR 77.1606 — Loading and haulage equipment; inspection and maintenance.** (3 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1606
- **30 CFR 77.1605 — Loading and haulage equipment; installations.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1605
- **30 CFR 71.209 — Status change reports.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-71/subpart-C/section-71.209
- **30 CFR 71.501 — Sanitary toilet facilities; maintenance.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-71/subpart-F/section-71.501
- **30 CFR 77.410 — Mobile equipment; automatic warning devices.** (2 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.410
- **30 CFR 77.1607 — Loading and haulage equipment; operation.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1607
- **30 CFR 77.1705 — First aid training program; retraining of supervisory employees; availability to all miners.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-R/section-77.1705

## Source coverage

- **Accident, Injuries, and Illnesses:** 5 rows; 2016-04-13 through 2021-01-06; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 2024-11-07 through 2024-11-07; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 66 rows; 2013-11-06 through 2023-11-06; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisions:** 22 rows; 2015-05-28 through 2020-10-19; source ID `msha-civil-penalty-dockets-decisions`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 333 rows; 2013-08-20 through 2024-05-02; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Contested Violations:** 22 rows; 2014-05-28 through 2020-04-27; source ID `msha-contested-violations`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 566 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 117 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 2 rows; 2012-03-02 through 2012-03-02; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 60 rows; 2013-05-14 through 2026-10-05; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 104 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 16 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 64 rows; 2013-08-13 through 2023-11-28; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 27 rows; 2014-12-08 through 2024-05-02; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 66 rows; 2013-11-06 through 2023-11-06; 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/blue-knob-surface-mine-4609448`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/blue-knob-surface-mine-4609448`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/4609448/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/4609448/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://4609448/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`