Data / Mines / Virginia / Elk Creek Surface
Elk Creek Surface: 63 MSHA citations
Updated November 6, 2026. Source: US Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Open Government Data Sets.
Elk Creek Surface is a nonproducing coal (bituminous) surface mine in Buchanan County, Virginia, operated by Surface Minerals Company with 1 employee on MSHA's record (mine ID 4407392). Since January 1, 2022 MSHA inspectors issued 63 citations and orders there with $17,205 in proposed penalties, and 1 accident report was filed there, with 1 injury or illness case.
The request: Watch Elk Creek Surface (MSHA mine ID 4407392) in Buchanan County, Virginia: each new citation and each accident report. $10 of work on sign-up, no card.
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- MSHA mine ID
- 4407392
- Status
- NonProducing since January 7, 2026
- Main commodity
- Coal (bituminous)
- Mine type
- Surface
- County
- Buchanan County, Virginia
- Nearest town
- Hurley
- Operator
- Surface Minerals Company
- Employees
- 1
- MSHA field office
- Vansant VA Field Office
- Citations and orders since January 1, 2022
- 63
- Significant and substantial
- 6 (9.5%)
- Closure orders
- 1
- High negligence or reckless
- 1
- Proposed penalties
- $17,205
- Amount paid so far
- $17,205
- Inspections
- 14
- Inspector hours on site
- 659
- Citations per inspection
- 4.50 (all mines 2.30)
- Accident reports
- 1
- Injury and illness cases
- 1
- Fatalities
- 0
- Latest MSHA record
- April 1, 2026
- Citations issued to contractors here
- 10 ($4,040 proposed)
Citations and injury cases by year
Calendar years since 2022; 2026 runs to the date of the MSHA files.
| Year | Citations and orders | Significant and substantial | Proposed penalties | Injury and illness cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6 | 1 | $1,369 | 1 |
| 2023 | 14 | 2 | $2,176 | 0 |
| 2024 | 23 | 3 | $4,475 | 0 |
| 2025 | 20 | 0 | $9,185 | 0 |
Standards cited most at Elk Creek Surface
Sections of Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations named on the citations, with the part each belongs to.
| Standard | What the part covers | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 30 CFR 77.1606 | Surface coal mines, safety | 28 |
| 30 CFR 77.1605 | Surface coal mines, safety | 10 |
| 30 CFR 77.1104 | Surface coal mines, safety | 7 |
| 30 CFR 77.1110 | Surface coal mines, safety | 4 |
| 30 CFR 77.404 | Surface coal mines, safety | 2 |
| 30 CFR 77.410 | Surface coal mines, safety | 2 |
| 30 CFR 77.1007 | Surface coal mines, safety | 2 |
| 30 CFR 77.205 | Surface coal mines, safety | 2 |
| 30 CFR 71.206 | Surface coal mines, health | 1 |
| 30 CFR 48.29 | Training of miners | 1 |
| 30 CFR 77.1109 | Surface coal mines, safety | 1 |
| 30 CFR 77.400 | Surface coal mines, safety | 1 |
| 30 CFR 41.12 | Notice of legal identity | 1 |
Injury and illness cases at Elk Creek Surface
Accident reports by degree of injury, as the operator reported them to MSHA.
| Degree | Cases |
|---|---|
| Days away from work or restricted activity | 1 |
What the accident reports at Elk Creek Surface describe
Accident classification, as MSHA codes the circumstances that contributed most directly.
| Classification | Reports |
|---|---|
| Machinery | 1 |
Equipment named in accident reports at Elk Creek Surface
| Equipment | Reports |
|---|---|
| Hand tools (powered) | 1 |
Other open mines in Buchanan County, Virginia
| Mine | Operator | County | Main commodity | Employees | Citations since 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan Mine #1 | Buchanan Minerals, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 770 | 2,093 |
| Paw Paw 2 South | Banner Blue Coal Company | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 7 | 291 |
| Ce#3 | CW Reclaim, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 2 | 192 |
| Laurel Branch Surface | CW Reclaim, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 3 | 155 |
| Wellmore #8 Prep Plant | Black Diamond Company | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 2 | 87 |
| #7 Prep Plant | Wellmore Coal Company, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 1 | 36 |
| Coronet Jewell Prep Plant #2 | Jewell Smokeless Coal Corp | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 18 | 27 |
| Airport Surface | Surface Minerals Company | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 0 | 23 |
| Surface Mine No. 1 | Surface Minerals Company | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 1 | 21 |
| S-5 Ailly Branch | Civil, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 4 | 14 |
| #9 Miner | CW Reclaim, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 0 | 13 |
| S-8 Jones Fork | Civil, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 0 | 11 |
| Empire | Denali Energy Group LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 0 | 10 |
| Auger 10 | P B Dirt Movers Inc | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (anthracite) | 0 | 8 |
| English Branch Prep Plant | Southwest Virginia Mining Company, LLC | Buchanan County, VA | Coal (bituminous) | 0 | 5 |
US government work, public domain. Counts come from the MSHA files published on November 6, 2026. An open mine is one MSHA lists as Active, Intermittent, New Mine, Temporarily Idled or NonProducing; 13,673 were open that day. Citations, penalties, inspections and accident reports run from January 1, 2022. A citation is an inspector's allegation and an operator can contest it; the penalty is the amount MSHA first proposed, before any contest or settlement. An operator is the legal entity MSHA assesses, and a parent company is its controller. Mines run by sole proprietors or by individuals are counted in every total and are not named. This page uses MSHA data and is not endorsed or certified by MSHA. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0. Spot a wrong value? Write to [email protected] with the link to this page.