Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Steel Mining Co., Inc. (ALJ decision, October 17, 1984)

Plain-English summary

MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining over roof support at its Maple Creek No. 2 Mine. In a tentative bench decision, Judge Joseph B. Kennedy removed the significant and substantial finding but found a technical roof control plan violation and assessed $150. U.S. Steel challenged the plan finding, and the parties agreed to resolve the case by changing the violation finding to inadequate roof control under 30 C.F.R. § 75.200. The judge adopted the bench decision with that change and ordered U.S. Steel to pay the agreed $150 penalty by October 26, 1984.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standard: 30 C.F.R. § 75.200, roof control.
• Outcome: Agreed modification adopted; $150 penalty due October 26, 1984.
• Key point: The decision replaces a roof control plan finding with a finding of inadequate roof control while keeping the $150 penalty.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES
2 SKYLINE, 10th FLOOR
5203 LEESBURG PIKE
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA 22041
OCT 17 1984

SECRETARY OF LABOR, : CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH : ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), : Docket No. PENN 84-20
Petitioner : A.C. No. 36-03425-03543
v. :
: Maple Creek No. 2 Mine
U.S. STEEL MINING CO., INC., :
Respondent :
DECISION
Appearances: Thomas A. Brown, Esq., Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, for Petitioner;
Louise Q. Symons, Esq., U.S. Steel Mining Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Respondent.
Before: Judge Kennedy
On May 24, 1984, the trial judge entered a tentative bench decision vacating the S&S finding and rejecting MSHA's claim that the roof cited in the captioned citation was inadequately supported (Tr. 121-122). At the same time, the trial judge found that because the roof was not bolted to plan there was a technical violation of the approved roof control plan. A penalty of $150 was assessed for the violation found.
In response to an order to show cause why the tentative decision should not be adopted as the final disposition in this matter, the operator moved to vacate the tentative decision. The ground assigned was that the roof control plan did not apply to the roof in the area cited and/or that the area cited was bolted before the effective date of the requirement for a roof control plan. After the matter came on for oral argument on MSHA's opposition to vacation of the bench decision, the parties agreed to settle the matter provided the trial judge would modify his decision so as to delete the finding of a technical violation of the roof control plan and substitute therefor a finding that the violation was a result of the operator's failure to control adequately the roof in the area cited. This in turn would be predicated on evidence which showed that because the operator initially chose to install bolts on four-foot centers the absence of such a bolting pattern established a failure to adequately control the roof in that area, a violation of the first sentence of 30 C.F.R. 75.200.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that as so modified the bench decision be, and hereby is, CONFIRMED AND ADOPTED as the final decision in this matter. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the operator pay the amount of the penalty assessed and agreed upon, $150, on or before Friday, October 26, 1984.

Joseph B. Kennedy
Administrative Law Judge

Distribution:
Thomas A. Brown, Esq., Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Depart- ment of Labor, 3535 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Certified Mail) Louise Q. Symons, Esq., U.S. Steel Mining Co., Inc., 600 Grant St., Rm. 1580, Pittsburgh, PA 15230 (Certified
-Mail)

/ejp