# BELCHER BRANCH

- **MSHA mine ID:** 4609474
- **Status:** Active
- **Type / commodity:** Underground / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Wyoming, WV
- **Operator:** Frontier Coal Company
- **Controller:** James C  Justice III
- **Public source rows linked:** 5,507
- **Source coverage:** 17 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-13T11:26:59.401Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**James C  Justice III (0171761) → Frontier Coal Company (0083104) → BELCHER BRANCH (4609474)**

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

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Mechel Oao → Energy Plus Inc:** 2013-03-13 through 2015-02-11; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **James C  Justice II et al → Energy Plus Inc:** 2015-02-12 through 2021-03-10; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Mechel Oao → Frontier Coal Company:** 2021-03-11 through 2015-02-11; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **James C  Justice lll et al → Frontier Coal Company:** 2021-03-11 through 2022-08-23; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Jillean L  Justice et al → Frontier Coal Company:** 2021-03-11 through 2022-08-23; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **James C  Justice II et al → Frontier Coal Company:** 2021-03-11 through 2009-05-06; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **James C  Justice II et al → Frontier Coal Company:** 2021-03-11 through 2017-06-07; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **James C  Justice III → Frontier Coal Company:** 2022-08-24 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 4609474; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 8
- Typed edges: 17
- Interval anomalies: 3
- 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 — 28 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 28 historical accident/injury rows; 0 coded fatalities and 639 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 1,492 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 1,492 violation rows across the full record; 396 carry an S&S flag and $4,844,667 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 654 samples:** Occupational health samples 581 coal dust; 40 coal quartz; 33 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 2 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 — 37K tons:** Quarterly production and employment 31K employee hours and 67 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.
5. **LEGAL — 1,196 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 558 contested-violation rows, 558 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 80 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 4 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 — 170 since 2021:** Inspections 170 inspection events and 5K published inspection hours across the historical record.

## EIA annual operating context

- **Reporting year:** 2024
- **Production:** 87,127 short tons
- **Labor hours:** 87,071
- **Average employees:** 43
- **Coal supply region:** Appalachia Central
- **Union code:** Not published
- **Published rows under this MSHA ID:** 1

## Recent Title 30 crosswalk

Snapshot current through 2026-08-19.

- **30 CFR 75.1732 — Proximity detection systems.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-R/section-75.1732
- **30 CFR 75.342 — Methane monitors.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-D/section-75.342
- **30 CFR 75.1100-3 — Condition and examination of firefighting equipment.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-L/section-75.1100-3
- **30 CFR 75.1106-3 — Storage of liquefied and nonliquefied compressed gas cylinders; requirements.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-L/section-75.1106-3
- **30 CFR 75.1600-2 — Communication facilities; working sections; installation and maintenance requirements; audible or visual alarms.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-Q/section-75.1600-2
- **30 CFR 75.1100-2 — Quantity and location of firefighting equipment.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-L/section-75.1100-2
- **30 CFR 75.400 — Accumulation of combustible materials.** (2 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-E/section-75.400
- **30 CFR 75.1722 — Mechanical equipment guards.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-R/section-75.1722
- **30 CFR 75.503 — Permissible electric face equipment; maintenance.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-F/section-75.503
- **30 CFR 75.1505 — Escapeway maps.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-P/section-75.1505
- **30 CFR 75.370 — Mine ventilation plan; submission and approval.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-75/subpart-D/section-75.370

## Source coverage

- **Accident, Injuries, and Illnesses:** 28 rows; 2022-10-04 through 2026-08-29; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 2026-10-06 through 2026-10-06; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 1,423 rows; 2022-02-24 through 2026-09-01; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisions:** 558 rows; 2023-06-13 through 2025-11-19; source ID `msha-civil-penalty-dockets-decisions`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 581 rows; 2022-05-04 through 2026-06-23; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Conferences:** 80 rows; 2021-06-17 through 2026-08-04; source ID `msha-conferences`
- **Contested Violations:** 558 rows; 2022-02-24 through 2025-06-30; source ID `msha-contested-violations`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 378 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 88 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 8 rows; 2013-03-13 through 2021-03-11; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 170 rows; 2021-03-05 through 2026-10-07; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 58 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 10 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 33 rows; 2022-12-06 through 2026-06-23; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 40 rows; 2022-07-21 through 2026-06-23; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 1,492 rows; 2021-03-05 through 2026-09-30; 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/belcher-branch-4609474`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/belcher-branch-4609474`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/4609474/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/4609474/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://4609474/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`