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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Helen Mining Company
Retaliatory discharges found in discrimination case
Helen Mining Company operated the Homer City Mine, where Joseph A. Smith served as a union safety committee chairman. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the company discharged Smith in December 1990 and July 1991 because he engaged in protected safety activity, including raising safety complaints and…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Ventilation citations affirmed without S&S findings
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal challenged three citations alleging that preshift examinations did not check air passing by openings to abandoned mine areas before that air mixed with other intake air. Judge Roy J. Maurer held that 30 C.F.R. § 75.311 required the examinations at or immediately inby the…
Hickory Coal Company
Settlement approved, $1,030 in penalties assessed
Hickory Coal Company and the Secretary jointly requested approval of a settlement covering four dockets and ten citations at the Slope No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the settlement after the parties proposed penalty reductions based on the mine’s limited ability to pay and nonproducing…
National Cement Company
Backpay and reinstatement ordered after discrimination finding
This discrimination proceeding concerned Ronny Boswell's removal from a utility-laborer position at National Cement Company. After an earlier remand, Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the parties' stipulated pay differential was $0.945 per hour and awarded $6,094.28 in backpay through May 30, 1992…
Falcon Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Richard Allen Plaster claimed that Falcon Coal Corporation discharged him after he left the mine to obtain a replacement cap light and raised a safety concern. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the discharge resulted from Plaster's insubordinate and abusive language toward his supervisor, not from…
R & N Coal Company
Financial hardship settlement approved
R & N Coal Company asked to settle two civil penalty proceedings because it had no employees and its only income was $3,250 per month in rental income. The Secretary proposed a 90 percent reduction for each violation and payment in six monthly installments. Judge Roy J. Maurer found the settlement…
Donner Coal Company, Inc.
Citations modified, one vacated, and $793 penalty assessed
Donner Coal Company operated the Black Rose No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that several cited conditions were significant and substantial, while other findings were not supported by the circumstances. He modified two citations to remove their significant-and-substantial characterization…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Unsafe conveyor access citation affirmed
Walker Stone Company operated a limestone quarry where an employee used an inclined conveyor belt to reach a crusher head pulley without a handrail. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the lack of a safe access means violated the cited standard and was significant and substantial because a fall could…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Remand settlement approved and proceedings dismissed
Southern Ohio Coal Company had a contest proceeding and a related civil penalty proceeding at the Martinka No. 1 Mine. On remand, the Secretary represented that the evidence would not support one order under the Commission’s Southern Ohio Coal standard, and Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated that order…
White Oak Mining Company
Jeffery A. Pate v. White Oak Mining Company (FMSHRC SE 91-104-D): Retaliatory discharge found, relief reserved
Jeffery A. Pate, a subcontractor and laborer at White Oak Mining, refused to shovel around an unguarded stacker-blender belt line after previously raising the guarding concern with MSHA. White Oak supervisor James Whitfield fired him after the refusal, although Pate also had other complaints about…
National Cement Company
Ronny Boswell v. National Cement Company (FMSHRC SE 90-112-DM): Safety-refusal discrimination sustained on remand
National Cement disqualified Ronny Boswell from his utility-laborer job after he refused to use a bobcat and then sought a union and company safety review before moving steel grinding balls up an inclined ramp in a wheelbarrow. The Commission had remanded the case for the judge to address the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Multiple citations modified, settled, and vacated
Consolidation Coal Company faced several consolidated citation and penalty proceedings involving the Humphrey No. 7, Shoemaker, and Blacksville No. 1 Mines. The judge approved settlements that reduced penalties, removed significant-and-substantial findings, changed negligence levels, or modified…
U. S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Weekly examination citation affirmed, one citation vacated
U. S. Steel Mining Company operated the Pinnacle Prep Plant and Gary No. 50 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved a settlement that affirmed Citation No. 3340442 for $112 and vacated Citation No. 3340443. He also affirmed Citation No. 3741045 under 30 C.F.R. § 75.512-2 because electrical equipment had…
Shamrock Coal Company
Discrimination proceeding settled and dismissed
Elmer Richard Couch brought a Mine Act discrimination proceeding against Shamrock Coal Company. The parties filed a joint motion asking the judge to approve their settlement and dismiss the action with prejudice. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the settlement, allowed Couch to withdraw his complaint…
Anderson Equipment Company
Training citation affirmed without S&S finding
Anderson Equipment Company was cited after employee Timothy Drake worked at a mine site without comprehensive training under an MSHA-approved plan. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that Drake was a maintenance worker who worked frequently and for extended periods around mine hazards, so 30 C.F.R. §…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Settlement approved with citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
Southern Ohio Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor presented a package settlement involving five docketed matters at the Martinka No. 1 Mine and several undocketed items. The settlement required testing of switch-gear and dead-block air gaps and an interim gap between one-half and…
Conco-Western Stone Company
Unsafe truck citations affirmed with one S&S finding removed
Conco-Western Stone Company and its superintendent, Ross Campbell, were cited over a quarry truck with inoperative brakes and other safety defects. Judge Roy J. Maurer found violations involving the truck's condition and affirmed the citations, but removed the significant-and-substantial…
Mustang Fuels Corporation
Civil penalty settlement approved
Mustang Fuels Corporation faced a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The parties asked the judge to approve a settlement and dismiss the case. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved a reduction of the proposed penalty from $450 to $175 and ordered Mustang Fuels to pay $175 within 30 days. The…
Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and modified with $867 penalty
Consolidation Coal Company contested citations issued at its Arkwright No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that an unguarded trolley wire violation was significant and substantial, and that coal dust accumulations created a significant and substantial hazard. He found that a separate violation…
Helen Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Joseph A. Smith after Helen Mining Company discharged him. Smith had filed Mine Act safety complaints and several discrimination complaints, and the company said he was discharged for refusing a fireboss assignment. Judge Roy J. Maurer did not decide…
Pyro Mining Company
Ventilation-plan citation vacated
Pyro Mining Company contested a citation alleging that it failed to follow its approved ventilation plan at the No. 9 Wheatcroft Mine. The plan said crosscuts should be positioned near the face of abandoned rooms “when practical,” with line curtains used as needed. The judge found that the…
Pyro Mining Company
Settlement raises one penalty and vacates two enforcement actions
Pyro Mining contested two orders and one citation arising at its Pyro No. 9 Slope, Wheatcroft Mine. The parties agreed to leave Order No. 3421655 in place while increasing its assessed penalty from $2,000 to $2,500. The Secretary also moved to vacate Order No. 3421656 and Citation No. 3419883, and…
Aloe Coal Company
Five citations affirmed after inspection-authority challenge
Aloe Coal operated a bituminous coal strip mine in Pennsylvania. The company argued that five citations were invalid because the inspection followed a complaint from a person who was not entitled to request an immediate inspection under section 103(g) of the Mine Act. Judge Roy J. Maurer held that…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved with $783 penalty
Consolidation Coal and the Secretary jointly asked the judge to approve a settlement in a civil penalty proceeding involving the Arkwright No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved a reduction in the proposed penalty from $953 to $783 under the Mine Act settlement criteria. The case was to be…
United States Steel Mining Company, Incorporated
Citation affirmed as non-S&S with penalty reduced
United States Steel Mining operated the Cumberland Mine, where MSHA cited a personnel carrier that lacked the lifting bar required by a safeguard under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1403. The company admitted the violation but disputed the significant-and-substantial designation and the negligence finding. Judge…
Fossil Fuel, Inc.
Melvin Burkhart v. Fossil Fuel, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 90-184-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Melvin Burkhart operated a continuous miner for Fossil Fuel and complained about roof bolts, ventilation curtains, methane monitoring, and other mine conditions. After management asked him to muck the mainline belt, Burkhart alleged that the assignment was retaliation for his safety complaints and…
Garden Creek Pocahontas Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed with prejudice
Linda Lester filed a discrimination complaint against Garden Creek Pocahontas Company concerning the Virginia Pocahontas #6 Mine. At the hearing, Lester moved to withdraw the complaint with prejudice and dismiss the case. Garden Creek did not object. Judge Roy J. Maurer granted the motion and…
Agipcoal USA, Inc.
Coal dust citation affirmed as non-S&S and withdrawal order vacated
MSHA cited Agipcoal USA for loose coal and float coal dust at the No. 3 dump of its Pevler Preparation Plant, including around electrical equipment, and later issued a withdrawal order when some dust remained. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the cited condition violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.202, but the…
Gateway Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Joseph S. Colamartino alleged that a Gateway Coal foreman assaulted him because he wanted to rib-pin an area he believed needed support. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that Colamartino had not engaged in protected safety activity because he did not show a good-faith, reasonable safety concern or…
Ten-A-Coal Company
Highwall citations affirmed
Ten-A-Coal was cited after an unsafe highwall and an undersized bench were left in place while coal was being loaded at the Ward Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the operator violated the ground-control-plan and prompt-correction requirements, and that the highwall violation was significant and…
F & W Mines, Inc.
Gilbert Wisdom v. F & W Mines, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 89-102-DM): Discharge violated Mine Act discrimination provision
Gilbert Wisdom operated a large backhoe for F & W Mines, an open-pit shell mining operation. After the machine's braking or tracking system and swing-arm control developed problems, Wisdom refused to operate it because he believed it could pull him into the pit and endanger others. Judge Roy J…
Mettiki Coal Corporation
Rib orders vacated or modified
Mettiki faced consolidated proceedings after a fatal rib-roll accident and related alleged violations at its underground mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated two section 104(d)(2) orders and rejected the related penalty proposals, while modifying two other orders to S&S section 104(a) citations and…
Smooth Sailing Coal Company, Inc., and James W. Runyon
Discrimination complaint sustained
Six Smooth Sailing coal miners complained about unsafe roof and ventilation conditions before they were laid off together. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the miners engaged in protected safety activity and that the layoff was motivated exclusively by those complaints, not by the employer's claimed…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Methane and dust orders partly affirmed
Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal contested an imminent-danger order, methane-ventilation citations, roof and coal-dust conditions, and a detonator-magazine condition at its mines and preparation plant. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the imminent-danger order and related methane citations, modified two…
Sun Glow Coal Company, Inc.
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Goebel Swiney asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against Sun Glow Coal Company. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the withdrawal, cancelled the scheduled hearing, and dismissed the case. The order resolved the proceeding without deciding the underlying discrimination allegations.
Tanks Unlimited, Incorporated
$1,000 settlement approved after admissions
Tanks Unlimited admitted the allegations and special findings associated with Citation Nos. 3038257 and 3038259. At the penalty hearing, the company presented evidence that it was out of business and had about $500 remaining after criminal fines and legal expenses arising from earlier accidents…
Kent Coal Mining Company
Training citations and orders vacated
Kent Coal Mining Company operated the Kent No. 55 surface coal mine, where four contract drillers were working without site-specific hazard training before starting work. MSHA issued four hazard orders and four related citations under its training regulations. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the two…
Medusa Cement Company-Div/Medusa Corporation
Work-platform citation affirmed
Medusa Corporation used a mobile crane at the Clinchfield Mine to raise workers in a work platform attached to a wire rope and swivel hook. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the platform lacked a device preventing free and uncontrolled descent, as required by the cited standard. The citation was found…
Winston Madden v. Ronald Summers and Sumco
Supplemental discrimination relief ordered
Winston Madden prevailed by default in a discrimination proceeding against Ronald Summers and Sumco. Judge Roy J. Maurer ordered the respondents to pay $10,215.11 in back wages and reimbursable expenses, $4,212.50 in attorney fees, and $75.24 in costs, with interest on the back-wage amount. The…
Appalachian Builders Corporation
Two citations amended and $140 assessed
Appalachian Builders Corporation was cited for four alleged violations at a preparation plant. Two citations concerned unsecured gas cylinders and combustible material on an air compressor. Judge Roy J. Maurer found both conditions violated the cited standards but removed their…
Kelly Trucking Company
Training orders modified and $470 assessed
Kelly Trucking Company was cited after two people working around a dragline had not received required new-miner training and daily examination results were not recorded. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the company was operating a mine and that the training and recordkeeping violations occurred. He…
Secretary of Labor v. Davidson Mining, Inc.
Roof-support citation affirmed after partial settlement
Davidson Mining operated the No. 1 Mine, where a roof fall seriously injured a miner. Before the hearing, the parties settled three citations for violations involving 30 C.F.R. § 70.101 and agreed to penalties of $227 each. Judge Roy J. Maurer then found that the mine's roof support was inadequate…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Roof-control order modified and other penalties affirmed
Southern Ohio Coal operated the Martinka No. 1 coal mine. Four citations or orders were resolved by an approved settlement and affirmed with penalties totaling $3,350. The remaining order alleged that the mine failed to timber or post unused intersections and complete two cribs under its…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved and $2,156 assessed
Consolidation Coal Company and McElroy Coal Company faced three related civil penalty dockets involving the Humphrey No. 7, Blacksville No. 2, and McElroy mines. The parties agreed to reduce the penalties, change one citation from significant and substantial to non-S&S, and modify two orders to…
Joliet Sand and Gravel Company
Fatal-accident settlement approved for $2,900
Joliet Sand and Gravel operated the Rockdale Quarry. The Secretary alleged that the quarry lacked safe access to the controls of a rock breaker and lacked a start-and-stop electrical control on the boom after a fatal accident involving the machine. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the parties'…
Liggett Industries, Inc.
Discrimination complaint sustained after constructive discharge
Stenson Begay worked as a certified welder for Liggett Industries at the McKinley Mine. He complained that smoke and welding fumes inside a dragline base were not adequately ventilated and left after management said it would not buy more blowers. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that Begay reasonably and…
Paroki Enterprises, Inc.
Settled discrimination case dismissed with prejudice
Blaine K. Deel brought a discrimination proceeding against Paroki Enterprises involving the No. 1 Truck Mine. The parties jointly asked to dismiss the case after reaching a mutually agreeable settlement. Judge Roy J. Maurer allowed Deel to withdraw the complaint, dismissed the case with prejudice…
Kyanite Mining Corporation
$5,000 settlement approved for training violations
Kyanite Mining Corporation faced 24 training-related civil penalty violations at its East Ridge Plant. MSHA proposed a total penalty of $7,200 for failing to provide new-miner safety training. Before testimony began, the parties proposed a settlement reducing the penalty to $5,000, and Judge Roy J…
Sterling Energy, Inc.
Mine safety orders affirmed and two modified
Sterling Energy, Inc. operated the Sterling No. 5 Mine. MSHA cited roof control, preshift examination, conveyor guarding, ventilation, and airflow conditions, including an imminent-danger order and several unwarrantable-failure orders. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the cited violations and orders…
Johnny Tackett
Discrimination complaint dismissed for failure to prosecute
Johnny Tackett's discrimination complaint was dismissed after he repeatedly failed to attend noticed depositions, produce requested documents, comply with prehearing orders, and respond to an order to show cause. Judge Roy J. Maurer granted the respondent's motion to dismiss for failure to…
Bob & Tom Coal, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed after settlement
George H. Adkins and Bob & Tom Coal, Inc. jointly asked to dismiss the discrimination case after reaching a mutually agreeable settlement. Judge Roy J. Maurer allowed the complaint to be withdrawn and dismissed the case with prejudice. The scheduled hearing was cancelled.
Moltan Company
Mixed ruling on plant-safety citations
MSHA cited Moltan Company for several conditions at its clay processing plant, including unguarded machinery, a cluttered walkway, an electrical cabinet latch, unattended gas cylinders, missing handrails, and unguarded pump couplings. Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated the citation for the unguarded…
Rivco Dredging Corporation
Abatement orders affirmed
Rivco Dredging contested two section 104(b) orders issued after it failed to abate conditions involving access to shaker-screen equipment and wiring for a fresh-water pump. The ALJ found that both conditions were eventually corrected, but not within the six-day abatement periods set by the…
Bowling Mountain Mining Corporation
Fatal roof fall violations settled for $7,000
MSHA cited Bowling Mountain Mining Corporation for five violations after a roof fall at Mine No. 2 killed acting foreman Truman Faulkner. The violations concerned roof support, a required preshift examination, miner training, and reporting the fatal accident. The judge approved a settlement…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Phyllis A. Palmieri did not appear for a scheduled hearing in her discrimination proceeding against Southern Ohio Coal Company. The judge issued an order to show cause after her absence. Palmieri then asked for permission to withdraw the complaint. The judge granted the request under 29 C.F.R. §…
Mathies Coal Company
Accident reporting and coal-dust violations affirmed
Mathies Coal Company was cited after a miner injured his knee at the Mathies Mine and the operator did not report the injury on the required MSHA form within ten working days. The judge credited the miner's account and found that the injury occurred at the mine and required reportable medical…
Zeigler Coal Company
Settlement approved and citation modified
MSHA brought a civil penalty case against Zeigler Coal Company over Citation No. 3042299 at the Spartan Mine. After the inspector testified, the parties proposed reducing the negligence finding from high to low, withdrawing the unwarrantable-failure allegation, and reducing the proposed penalty…
Faith Coal Company
Settlement approved and citations affirmed
MSHA brought a civil penalty case against Faith Coal Company involving two citations at the Goforth Mine. The settlement reduced the negligence factor for Citation No. 2808790 from high to moderate and reduced the combined proposed penalty from $179 to $156. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the…
Lincoln Sand And Gravel Co.
Three safety citations affirmed by default
Lincoln Sand and Gravel operated a sand and gravel mine. The judge found that a conveyor walkway had broken support braces, electrical junction and switch boxes lacked covers over 440-volt terminals, and a 2,200-volt transformer enclosure was not locked against unauthorized entry. The company did…
Oneida Coal Company, Inc.
Roof-control violation affirmed and settlement approved
Oneida Coal faced two Mine Act proceedings at its No. 11 Mine, involving roof control and accumulated float coal dust. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved a $1,000 settlement for the float coal dust order without reducing the proposed penalty. He found that Oneida violated its roof control plan because…
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.