Morton Salt Division / Morton International Inc. (ALJ decision, January 18, 2012)

Plain-English summary

A power outage affected both hoists at Morton Salt's Fairport Mine at 1:03 a.m., and the company notified MSHA at 7:30 a.m. The parties proposed changing the citation from section 50.10(a) to section 50.10(d), reducing negligence from high to moderate, and cutting the penalty from $5,000 to $100. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick found that the settlement supplied no facts showing whether the outage could have led to an injury or entrapment with a reasonable potential to cause death. Without that information, he could not determine whether the proposed classification and reduction had a reasonable basis. He denied the settlement motion without prejudice.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standards: 30 C.F.R. §§ 50.10(a) and 50.10(d)
• Outcome: The proposed reduction from $5,000 to $100, subsection change, and negligence reduction were denied without prejudice.
• Key point: A settlement of an accident-notification citation needs facts showing whether the event carried a reasonable potential for fatal injury or entrapment.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FMSHRC ALJ Decision

DASRM1.CLR

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES

601 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, NW, SUITE 9500

WASHINGTON, DC 20001-2021

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9958 / FAX: 202-434-9949

January 18. 2012

SECRETARY OF LABOR

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

ADMINISTRATION (MSHA),

Petitioner

v.

MORTON SALT DIVISION / MORTON

INTERNATIONAL INC., Respondent

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CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING

Docket No. LAKE 2010-968-M

A.C. No. 33-01993-229163

Mine: Fairport

ORDER ACCEPTING APPEARANCE

ORDER DENYING SETTLEMENT MOTION

Before:            Judge Lesnick

This case is before me under section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (“Mine Act”), 30 U.S.C. § 815(d). The Secretary of Labor’s Conference and Litigation Representative (“CLR”) filed a notice of limited appearance in this case. It is ORDERED that the CLR be accepted to represent the Secretary. Cyprus Emerald Res. Corp., 16 FMSHRC 2359 (Nov. 1994). The CLR has filed a motion to approve settlement. A reduction in the penalty from
$5,000.00 to $100.00 is proposed. The CLR also requests that Citation No. 6501298 be modified to specify that 30 C.F.R. § 56.10(d) was violated, rather than 30 C.F.R. § 50.10(a) as set forth in the citation, and to reduce the level of negligence from “high” to “moderate.”

Citation No. 6501298 specifies that Morton Salt’s Fairport Mine “experienced a power outage affecting both hoists on 6/22/2010. The mine operator failed to notify MSHA in a timely manner. Several hours elapsed before notification was received. The mine operator was aware of the requirements.” The citation further specifies that there was no likelihood of injury or illness as a result of the violation, that no persons were affected, that the violation was not significant and substantial (S&S),

and that the violation was the result of the high negligence of the operator.

In support of the settlement motion, the CLR states that the “Secretary has determined that the violation was not subject to penalties defined in SECTION 5 of the MINER ACT of 2006.” Sec’y Mot. at 1. As to the request to modify the negligence designated for the violation, the CLR states:

Respondent asserts that the following constitute mitigating factors: The accident occurred at 01:03. On site management reviewed the reporting procedure and determined that the condition did not require immediate notification. Upon arrival at the mine site, senior management reviewed the condition and the Safety Manager called and notified MSHA at 07:30.

Id. at [1-2]. The CLR provides no further factual background.

In 2006, in response to the tragic accidents at the Sago Mine and Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine, Congress enacted the the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-236, 120 Stat. 493 (“MINER Act”). Section 103(j) of the Mine Act requires a mine operator to notify MSHA in the event of an accident occurring at its mine. 30 U.S.C.
§ 813(j). Section 5(a) of the MINER Act amended Mine Act section 103(j) such that “the notification required shall be provided by the operator within 15 minutes of the time at which the operator realizes that the death of an individual at the mine, or an injury or entrapment of an individual at the mine which has a reasonable potential to cause death, has occurred.” Section 5(b) of the MINER Act amended Mine Act section 110(a) by adding a new subsection providing that failure to meet the requirements of section 103(j) relating to the 15 minute requirement “shall be assessed a civil penalty . . . of not less than $5,000 and not more than $60,000.” 30 U.S.C. § 820(a)(2).

The Secretary’s regulation implementing the MINER Act amendments relating to the 15 minute requirement are less than a model of clarity. Section 50.10, the section under which the operator here was cited, provides:

The operator shall immediately contact MSHA at once
without delay and within 15 minutes at the toll-free number, 1-800-746-1553, once the operator knows or should know that an accident has occurred involving:

(a) A death of an individual at the mine;

(b) An injury of an individual at the mine which has a
reasonable potential to cause death;

(c) An entrapment of an individual at the mine which has a
reasonable potential to cause death; or

(d) Any other accident.

30 C.F.R. § 50.10. Under the scant facts of this case which the CLR had provided me, the Secretary apparently reads this regulation to exempt “[a]ny other accident” from the 15 minute requirement of section 5 of the MINER Act. This clearly is not what section 50.10 provides since nothing in the regulation exempts subsection (d) from the 15 minute requirement. Insofar as section 50.10 as promulgated conflicts with Mine Act section 103(j), I will defer to the Secretary’s reading of her own regulation. “Any other accident” thus refers in section 50.10 to an accident that does not involve the death of an individual, or an injury or entrapment with “a reasonable potential to cause death,” and is thus exempt from the 15 minute requirement.

Here, the accident at issue was that the mine “experienced a power outage affecting both hoists.” Citation No. 6501298. The CLR, however, provides no facts upon which I could assess the likelihood of whether the power outage and hoist problems could have potentially led to an injury or entrapment with “a reasonable potential to cause death,” which the Secretary presumably determined when she concluded that the operator violated section 50.10(d) rather than section 50.10(a). In the absence of any such facts, it is impossible for me to conclude that the Secretary had a reasonable basis for her determination.

Having considered the representations and documentation submitted in this case, and I therefore conclude that the proffered settlement lacks a sufficient evidentiary basis.

WHEREFORE, the motion for approval of settlement is DENIED without prejudice.

/s/ Robert J. Lesnick

Robert J. Lesnick

Chief Administrative Law Judge

Distribution:

Daniel J. Goyen, Conference & Litigation Representative, U.S. Department of Labor, MSHA, 515 West First Street, Room 333, Duluth, MN 55802

William Shull, Representative of Miners, 414 Fifth St., Fairport, OH 44077

Richard Hickman, Safety Manager, Morton Salt International Inc., P.O. Box 428, Grand River, OH 44045

/tjr

Daniel J. Goyen

Conference & Litigation Representative

U.S. Department of Labor, MSHA

515 West First Street, Room 333

Duluth, MN 55802

William Shull

Representative of Miners

414 Fifth St.

Fairport, OH 44077

Richard Hickman

Safety Manager

Morton Salt International Inc.

P.O. Box 428

Grand River, OH 44045