MSHA News Release: [04/18/2008]
Contact: Amy Louviere Matthew Faraci
Phone: (202) 693-9423 (202) 693-9406
Release Number 08-519-ATL
Court of Appeals rules for MSHA against delinquent Kentucky coal mine operator Judgment orders Little Ty Coal Co. to pay $146,000
ARLINGTON, Va. - - The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today announced it has won a judgment against a Kentucky coal mine operator the agency sued in May 2007 for failure to pay mine safety penalties. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a judgment of enforcement on April 2, 2008, ordering Little Ty Coal Co. Inc. to pay $146,000 for civil penalties issued over a two-and-a-half-year period.
"When MSHA filed suit against Little Ty Coal Co. last year, we vowed to use all the tools available to us under the Mine Act to collect civil penalties," said Richard E. Stickler, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Mine operators who consistently flout federal regulations will be held accountable."
MSHA issued 309 citations between September 2004 and March 2007 against the company's Mine #1, Mine #2 and Mine #3. None of these citations was contested by Little Ty and, subsequently, all 309 became final actions 30 days after they were issued.
According to the court's judgment, Little Ty must pay its penalties within 60 days. Little Ty's failure to comply with the judgment will result in MSHA taking additional enforcement action.
