Old Ben Coal Company (ALJ decision, January 10, 1992)

Plain-English summary

Old Ben Coal Company was the respondent in a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The parties proposed reducing a $500 penalty to $250 and dismissing related cases after the case was severed from two other dockets. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the statutory criteria and approved it. The company was ordered to pay $250 within 30 days.

Decision snapshot

• Governing authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(d); 30 U.S.C. § 820(i)
• Outcome: The settlement was approved and a $250 penalty was ordered.
• Key point: The judge approved the parties' proposed reduction after considering the submitted representations and documentation.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

CCASE:
SOL (MSHA) v. OLD BEN COAL
DDATE:
19920110
TTEXT:

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission Office of Administrative Law Judges
2 Skyline, 10th Floor
5203 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, Virginia 22041

SECRETARY OF LABOR,
CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA),
Docket No. LAKE 91-725
PETITIONER
A.C. No. 11-00590-03846
v.
Mine No. 26
OLD BEN COAL COMPANY,
RESPONDENT

DECISION APPROVING SETTLEMENT

Appearances: Rafael Alvarez, Esq., U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Chicago, Illinois, for Petitioner;
Gregory S. Keltner, Esq., Old Ben Coal Company, Fairview Heights, Illinois, for Respondent.

Before: Judge Weisberger

It is ORDERED that this case be severed from Docket Nos.
LAKE 91-416 and LAKE 91-720. This case is before me upon a petition for assessment of civil penalty under Section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the Act). On December 16, 1991, subsequent to a hearing on the merits on another matter, Petitioner made to approve settlement agreement and to dismiss the cases. A reduction in penalty from $500 to
$250 is proposed. I have considered the representations and documentation submitted in these cases, and I conclude that the proffered settlement is appropriate under the criteria set forth in Section 110(i) of the Act.

WHEREFORE, the motion for approval of settlement is GRANTED, and it is ORDERED that Respondent pay penalties of $250 within 30 days of this order.

Avram Weisberger
Administrative Law Judge