Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Original Sixteen to One Mine, Incorporated
Safety citations affirmed with two negligence findings reduced
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Incorporated operated a small mine with about nine miners when MSHA issued citations for conditions involving mine equipment and facilities. Judge August F. Cetti rejected the operator's argument that the Securities and Exchange Commission's view of its reserves…
Sunshine Precious Metals, Incorporated
Discrimination complaint dismissed
John R. Peterson alleged that Sunshine Precious Metals discharged him after a dispute about correcting a ventilation problem at the Sunshine Mine. He had already been reinstated through arbitration and received back wages after the discharge. Judge August F. Cetti found no persuasive evidence that…
Pamela Bridge Pero v. Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Settlement approved on remand
Pamela Bridge Pero's discrimination case against Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp. returned to the judge on remand. The parties chose to settle rather than present additional evidence, and they represented that the agreement finally resolved all issues. Judge August F. Cetti found the settlement…
China Mines Company
Electrical citations affirmed with modified negligence
Chino Mines Company operated an open-pit copper mine with a solvent-extraction plant. After a 480-volt circuit breaker exploded, three employees suffered burn injuries and one later died. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the citation for an improperly installed breaker, affirmed the…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC.
Unsupported-roof citation vacated
Canyon Fuel operated the Skyline Mine No. 3 in Utah. The Secretary alleged that longwall foreman Kenneth DeMille walked under unsupported roof after an unintentional roof fall. Judge August F. Cetti found that DeMille used a narrow passageway supported by the mine's roof-control plan and that the…
United Metro Materials
Civil penalty proceedings dismissed for delayed assessment
United Metro Materials challenged civil penalties proposed more than 15 months after MSHA completed its investigation of two citations arising from a fatal conveyor-belt accident. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not provide adequate cause for the delay and that the proposed…
Higman Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Mine-entry citation vacated
Higman Sand & Gravel operated several sand and gravel pits, including the HM-2 Crusher Mine in South Dakota. An MSHA inspector alleged that the company denied him access by failing to identify a machine called the HM-2 Crusher and issued a citation under section 103(a) of the Mine Act. Judge August…
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp.
Two citations affirmed and $110 penalty assessed
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp. was assessed penalties in a supplemental order after a consolidated proceeding concerning the validity of the 060 code. Judge August F. Cetti relied on the hearing record and the parties’ stipulations and assessed $55 for each of two affirmed citations. The operator…
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp.
Dust-sampling citations partly modified
RAG Shoshone Coal operated the Shoshone No. 1 underground mine and contested two citations involving respirable-dust sampling and its ventilation plan. The Judge found that the operator failed to submit valid samples for the designated longwall occupation, affirmed the related citation, and…
Plateau Mining Corp. (formerly Cyprus Plateau Mining Corporation)
Plateau Mining Corp. (FMSHRC WEST 98-317, WEST 98-191-R, WEST 98-192-R): Dust-control findings reduced
Plateau Mining operated the Willow Creek underground coal mine, where MSHA found that a rebuilt continuous miner had fewer water sprays than the approved ventilation plan required. The judge affirmed the underlying violations but found that the evidence did not establish significant and substantial…
Harney Rock & Paving Co.
Eight mobile-equipment citations resolved with $1,904 penalty
Harney Rock & Paving Co. operated a crusher in Oregon. MSHA issued eight citations involving backing alarms and observers, parking brakes, elevated walkways, access, berm height, mobile-equipment warning devices, and a dozer operator's seat belt. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the violations and…
Alta Gold Company
Three citations affirmed with penalty factors modified
Alta Gold Company operated the Griffon Project surface mine, where MSHA cited unsafe dumping at an undercut stockpile and inadequate restraints at a crusher feed hopper. Judge August F. Cetti found violations of the stockpile dumping and dump-site restraint standards, affirmed the…
Alumining Incorporated
ROPS violation modified and backup-alarm citation vacated
Au Mining operated a small underground gold mine using a load, haul, and dump loader that traveled briefly on the surface to unload material. Judge August F. Cetti held that the loader was surface equipment subject to the ROPS and seat-belt requirements in 30 C.F.R. § 57.14130(a). He deleted the…
Plateau Mining Corp.
Preshift-examination citation vacated
Plateau Mining operated the Star Point No. 2 coal mine. MSHA cited the operator after an inspector found loose and fine coal accumulations and roof or rib conditions that were not recorded in the preshift examination book. Judge August F. Cetti found that the conditions arose after the preshift…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Co.
Coal-burst citation vacated
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company's underground C-2 Mine experienced a coal burst during retreat mining that injured six miners, two fatally. MSHA cited the company for failing to control coal ribs under the roof-control standard and proposed a $50,000 penalty. Judge August F. Cetti found that Harlan…
Contractors Sand and Gravel, Inc.
EAJA award set at $99,935.51 on remand
Contractors Sand and Gravel pursued attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after the D.C. Circuit held that the Secretary's position in the underlying case was not substantially justified. The Commission reinstated the judge's EAJA award and remanded for calculation of…
Whitewater Building Materials Corporation
Two S&S designations removed while citations affirmed
Whitewater Building Materials Corporation operated the HM2 Crusher mine, a sand and gravel operation. MSHA charged five violations, including two alleged significant and substantial violations, and proposed a total penalty of $393. The parties agreed to keep the penalty unchanged while removing the…
Owyhee Calcium Products, Incorporated
Citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
Owyhee Calcium Products operated a one-person agricultural limestone quarry in Idaho. MSHA alleged 14 mandatory-standard violations and sought $6,580 in penalties. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed most of the citations, vacated the citation for an unused electrical box and the duplicate…
Sweetman Construction Co.
Five citations affirmed with $357 penalty
Sweetman Construction operated the Summit Pit, a sand and gravel mine inspected by MSHA in October 1997. The Secretary alleged five violations involving defective truck headlights and windshield wipers, missing berms at an elevated dump site, and two additional citations that Sweetman accepted at…
CW Mining Company
Roof-control citation vacated after fatality investigation
CW Mining operated the Bear Canyon No. 2 underground coal mine. The case followed a fatal accident involving a miner and a moving shuttle car, after which MSHA alleged that the operator violated its approved roof-control plan while extracting pillars. Judge August F. Cetti found that the operator’s…
Pamela Bridge Pero v. Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Pamela Bridge Pero worked in the human-resources department at Cyprus Plateau Mining Corporation's Star Point No. 2 underground coal mine. She alleged that the company fired her after she raised concerns about workers' compensation reporting and the handling of injury reports. Judge August F. Cetti…
Newmont Gold Company
Ground-support citation vacated
Newmont Gold Company operated the Carlin East gold mine in Nevada. MSHA alleged that the mine failed to maintain ground support in a roadheader stope after a ground fall and cited 30 C.F.R. § 57.3360. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not prove the ground support was inadequate…
Lakeview Rock Products
Discrimination settlement approved
Jeffery S. Sill alleged that Lakeview Rock Products unlawfully terminated him from his loader-operator job at a rock-products mine. He found another loader-operator position after three weeks, later experienced a seasonal layoff, and then returned to work for another employer. After a hearing, the…
Newmont Gold Company
Haul-truck and accident-report citations affirmed
A haul-truck driver at Newmont's Genesis Mine backed through a berm, the truck overturned, and the driver was hospitalized. Judge August F. Cetti found that the operator failed to maintain control of the mobile equipment and failed to submit the required accident report after the incident. The…
Newmont Gold Company
Civil penalty proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor sought civil penalties for four citations that had already been vacated and dismissed in an earlier consolidated contest proceeding involving Newmont Gold Company. The judge denied the Secretary's motion to stay the penalty case and denied the penalty petition because the…
Newmont Gold Company
Guarding citations vacated
Newmont Gold contested five citations and five related withdrawal orders at its Genesis Mine. The citations alleged that moving engine parts on five haul trucks lacked required guards, while the withdrawal orders were later vacated by the Secretary. Judge August F. Cetti dismissed the five order…
All American Asphalt
Layoffs found discriminatory and remedies remanded
All American Asphalt operated an asphalt plant, quarry, and aggregate plant in California. After employees raised safety concerns and gave a video of plant hazards to MSHA, the company failed to recall four employees after a 1992 layoff and later laid them off again in 1993. Judge August F. Cetti…
Contractor's Sand and Gravel, Inc.
EAJA award of $41,155.05
Contractor's Sand and Gravel challenged an MSHA electrical-grounding citation and obtained a ruling vacating the citation and associated penalties. It then sought attorney fees and other expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary's litigation…
Marty P. Boden v. Lion Coal Company
Retaliatory discharge found
Marty P. Boden, a belt foreman at the Swanson Mine, reported unsafe conditions to MSHA. The mine's management learned that his complaints led to an MSHA inspection and directed that he be fired later the same day. Judge August F. Cetti found that the stated reason for the discharge was pretextual…
Energy West Mining Company
Coal outburst citation vacated
Energy West Mining Company operated the Cottonwood underground coal mine in Utah. MSHA cited the mine under 30 C.F.R. § 75.202(a) after a coal outburst, also called a bounce, disrupted ventilation and stopped production for more than an hour. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not…
Utah Fuel Company
Roof-fall citations vacated
Utah Fuel Company operated the Skyline No. 1 underground coal mine in Utah. The case followed a fatal rib and roof fall accident during rehabilitation work in a previously caved area. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not prove violations involving accident reporting, roof and rib…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co.
Settlement approved with $10,000 penalty
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining used drill power to remove an adapter, and a wrench flew off and struck a miner who later died. The parties agreed that the evidence did not support the inspector's findings of high negligence and unwarrantable failure because the procedure had been used for years and…
Lothan Dwayne Skelton, employed by Skelton, Inc.
Agent penalties assessed
Lothan Dwayne Skelton, owner and working manager of Skelton, Inc., and Perry Lee Rowe, the mine foreman, were charged with knowingly authorizing or carrying out violations at the El-Jay Mine. Judge August F. Cetti found aggravated conduct supporting individual liability for several handrail…
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply, Incorporated
Settlement approved for $1,950
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply faced consolidated civil-penalty proceedings involving alleged safety violations at its Scott River and Montague plants. After earlier default proceedings were reopened and remanded, the parties proposed a settlement covering the remaining citations. Judge August F…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Permissibility citation modified and order vacated
FMC Wyoming operated the underground FMC Trona Mine, where MSHA cited nonpermissible proximity switches at the top of a hoist shaft under 30 C.F.R. § 57.22305. The judge found that the switches were not maintained in permissible condition, but the methane readings near them were below one percent…
C.W. Mining Company
Respirable-dust citation vacated
C.W. Mining Company's Bear Canyon #1 Mine was cited after five operator dust samples averaged 1.9 milligrams of respirable dust per cubic meter. MSHA had assigned a 1.2-milligram limit to a replacement continuous miner, but that lower limit belonged to an older machine that had been scrapped. The…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Two citations vacated
MSHA cited FMC Wyoming Corporation at the FMC Trona Mine for alleged violations involving guarding of moving machine parts and noise exposure. After reviewing photographs at the hearing, the Secretary agreed that the coupling and drive shaft between a motor and hoist were guarded, though the…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Arc-welding citations settled
MSHA cited FMC Wyoming Corporation for two alleged violations of the arc-shield requirement at the FMC Trona Mine. The parties agreed to settle the case for $50 on each citation, while FMC did not admit a violation. Judge August F. Cetti found the settlement consistent with the Mine Act's penalty…
C.W. Mining Company
Four citations resolved by settlement
C.W. Mining Company operated the Bear Canyon No. 1 Mine. MSHA alleged four safety violations involving an inadequate preshift examination, coal and coal-dust accumulations, equipment, and electrical equipment. The parties agreed to modify the preshift citation by deleting its…
Wharf Resources (USA), Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Thomas L. Crowder alleged that Wharf Resources removed him from a supervisory position after an anhydrous-ammonia release while he was installing a test gauge on a pump. Judge August F. Cetti found that the complaint did not identify protected Mine Act activity and that disciplinary action over the…
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply, Incorporated
Frame grounding citation vacated
Contractors Sand & Gravel operated two small portable sand and gravel surface mines in California. MSHA cited the company and its manager after finding that motors were grounded through the crusher and stacker frames rather than through separate visible grounding conductors. Judge Cetti held that…
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates
Settlement approved and hearing canceled
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates and the Secretary submitted a settlement covering two consolidated civil-penalty proceedings. Judge August F. Cetti approved reduced penalties totaling $9,000 and vacated one penalty tied to Citation No. 4139747. The order dismissed the cases after payment and canceled…
Energy Fuels Coal, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and two vacated
Energy Fuels Coal was assessed civil penalties in two consolidated dockets involving conveyor guarding and preshift examinations at the Southfield Mine. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed two non-significant-and-substantial citations with $50 penalties each, for a total of $100. He vacated one conveyor…
Somerset Mining Company
Roof-control citation vacated
Somerset Mining operated the Sanborn Creek underground coal mine in Colorado and contested a citation alleging that its roof-control plan did not comply with 30 C.F.R. § 75.220(a)(1). The dispute concerned whether Somerset could use double splitting of certain pillars during retreat mining in the B…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Keith D. James v. Cordero Mining Company
Discharge complaint dismissed
Keith D. James alleged that Cordero Mining Company discharged him because of safety complaints, reports to MSHA, distribution of miners' rights handbooks, and other protected activity. Judge August F. Cetti found that James engaged in protected activity, but concluded that Cordero discharged him…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Marty P. Boden v. Lion Coal Company, Cougar Coal Company, Randy Burke, and Randall Key
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Marty P. Boden v. Lion Coal Company, et al. (FMSHRC WEST 95-308-D): Temporary reinstatement ordered
Marty P. Boden was a belt foreman at Lion Coal Company’s Swanson Mine who reported unsafe beltline, escapeway, dust, and rock-dusting conditions to MSHA. He was discharged later the same day that an MSHA inspection began, and the Secretary sought his temporary reinstatement. Judge August F. Cetti…
Stewart Kessen
Settlement approved for $2,291.80
Stewart Kessen Crushing faced eight proposed civil penalties totaling $3,274 for conditions cited at its operation. Judge August F. Cetti approved the parties’ settlement after finding it consistent with the Mine Act’s penalty criteria. The approved penalties totaled $2,291.80, payable within 30…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Three violations affirmed and one vacated
Lakeview Rock Products was cited for missing or inadequate berms at a grizzly and ramp, and for unguarded moving parts on a crusher and conveyor. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the two berm violations and the conveyor tail-pulley violation, finding them non-significant and substantial, and assessed…
American Stone, Inc.
Settlement approved and one citation vacated
American Stone contested 18 safety violations at its Aragonite Mine and crushing mill. The Secretary vacated the citation alleging that the mine had been closed without notice after records showed the mine was open, and the judge set aside its $50 penalty. The parties settled the remaining matters…
Western Fuels-Utah, Inc.
Belt-fire citations mixed, $4,000 penalty assessed
Western Fuels-Utah operated the underground Deserado Mine in Colorado, where a conveyor-belt fire occurred in the East Mains No. 3 section. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not prove violations involving the conveyor switches or the sensing devices, and he vacated those citations…
All American Asphalt
Back-pay awards and penalty ordered
All American Asphalt faced consolidated discrimination proceedings brought on behalf of James Hyles, Douglas Mears, Derrick Soto, and Gregory Dennis. The parties resolved the amounts of back pay and benefits owed before the scheduled hearing, while the respondent reserved its position on liability…
Condero Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement approved and proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor filed an application for temporary reinstatement on behalf of Keith D. James after Cordero Mining Company terminated his employment. The parties agreed to a voluntary economic temporary reinstatement while a related discrimination case proceeded. Judge August F. Cetti…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company
Two citations affirmed as modified and one vacated
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company operated the Kemmerer Mine and faced three safety citations. Judge August F. Cetti found combustible material and hydraulic oil accumulated on a car-pusher hydraulic unit, and found that a haul-road caution sign was required, but deleted the…
Bridger Coal Company
Respirable-dust citation vacated
Bridger Coal operated a surface coal mine where MSHA cited a drill operator's designated work position for exceeding a respirable-dust limit. Judge August F. Cetti found that the reduced limit had originally been based on a single quartz sample, and that the single-shift method could not reliably…
Art Beavers Construction Co.
Delayed penalty assessment upheld as reasonable
Art Beavers Construction contested a citation alleging that a miner's required training certificate was not available for inspection. The Secretary proposed the penalty 330 days after the citation was issued, and the operator argued that the delay required dismissal. Judge August F. Cetti found…
All American Asphalt
Discrimination found in failure to recall
All American Asphalt operated a rock finishing plant where four employees raised safety concerns about an unfinished plant that was put into operation. The employees and other workers provided information during an MSHA investigation, and the plant was shut down until violations were corrected…
F&E Erection Company
Settlement approved and $2,500 penalty assessed
F&E Erection Company faced consolidated temporary-reinstatement and discrimination proceedings arising from William C. Young Jr.'s alleged wrongful discharge from work at the Caballo Rojo Mine. The Secretary of Labor alleged that Young had engaged in protected activity under section 105(c)(2) of…
Boyer Ready Mix Sand & Rock, Incorporated
Settlement approved after remand with $2,938 assessed
The Commission remanded Boyer Ready Mix Sand & Rock's penalty case for the ALJ to reconsider whether a default order was warranted. The parties then reached a settlement covering 14 citations, reducing the proposed penalties to $2,938. The ALJ approved the settlement under the statutory penalty…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Ventilation violation upheld and individual proceeding dismissed
Mid-Continent Resources changed the approved ventilation system at its Dutch Creek Mine after the mine stopped producing coal, without first obtaining MSHA approval. The judge found that the mine remained active for ventilation, pumping, and patrol work, and that the changes violated 30 C.F.R. §…
Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corp.
Discrimination cases dismissed after settlement
The Secretary brought two discrimination complaints on behalf of Robert W. Buelke, alleging that Santa Fe Pacific Gold discharged him twice in retaliation for protected safety activity. Before the ALJ issued a liability decision, the parties reached a comprehensive settlement covering the…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.