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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Tanoma Mining Company
Methane order affirmed and penalties modified
Tanoma Mining Company operated an underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. After methane levels above 4 percent were detected, the company evacuated the mine, shut off power except for fans, and notified MSHA. An inspector later measured methane concentrations from 2.4 percent to more than 5 percent…
Island Creek Coal Company
Reporting violation penalty set on remand
Island Creek Coal Company failed to immediately report a methane escape from a core drill hole under 30 C.F.R. § 50.10. The Commission had already found that the failure to report violated the standard and remanded the case for a penalty assessment. On remand, Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the…
Tilden Mining Company, L.C.
Crusher citations split and $559 penalty assessed
Tilden Mining Company operated an iron mine where employees worked around a clogged primary crusher. The judge approved a settlement modifying one citation and vacating another, vacated an imminent-danger order that was not promptly reduced to writing, and affirmed one fall-protection citation…
Empire Iron Mining Partnership
Mixed contest and penalty rulings
Empire Iron Mining Partnership contested orders and citations at its Empire Mine, and the Secretary also sought civil penalties. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved settlements for several matters, affirmed some orders and citations, vacated other citations, and modified one order by deleting its…
Boogar Man Mining, Inc., Dema Coal Company, Inc., A & J Fuels, Inc., Barry Moore, and Freddie Hunter
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Michael D. Brown alleged that he was discharged from work at the No. 1 mine after raising safety concerns about working under unsupported roof. The Secretary of Labor applied for his temporary reinstatement under the Mine Act's discrimination provision. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed after refusal of task training
Marvin E. Carmichael claimed that Jim Walter Resources suspended him after he refused task training to operate a scoop because of safety concerns. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the refusal was not protected activity because the training was intended to teach safe operation, the miners did not…
IMC-AGRICO Company
One fatal-accident citation modified and one vacated
IMC-AGRICO operated the Fort Green phosphate mine in Florida. After a lineman was electrocuted while climbing onto a power-pole cross arm, the judge found that the company violated the requirement to de-energize and lock out the power circuit before work, but found no operator negligence because…
Nevada Goldfields, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Kenneth L. Driessen alleged that Nevada Goldfields dismissed him because he raised safety concerns about operating a ball mill and other equipment at the Nixon Fork Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Driessen may have engaged in activity protected by the Mine Act, but the evidence did not show…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Contests defaulted after discovery failures
Buck Creek Coal failed repeatedly to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling discovery, and the Secretary's motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company was apparently in bankruptcy but that this did not automatically stay the proceedings or prevent…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $14,084 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $14,084. The decision explains…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $8,474 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $8,474. The decision states…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $22,252 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $22,252. The decision states…
Yahara Materials Inc.
Settlement agreement disapproved
MSHA proposed reducing penalties against Yahara Materials and foreman James R. Hoppman for a conveyor-access citation involving an approximately 12-foot fall hazard. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the settlement submission did not provide enough facts to justify the proposed reductions, including…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $94,426 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $38,723 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $179,310 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $6,162 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $9,407 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $4,628 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $7,344 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations and orders. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Cedar Coal Company Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Steve Baker claimed Cedar Coal Company fired him after he stopped operating a loader because its heater and defroster did not work. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Baker stopped work because he was cold, not because he communicated a safety concern, and that his account was not supported by the…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment and $20,588 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. faced 33 alleged violations at the Buck Creek Mine in six consolidated civil penalty proceedings. The company did not answer the Secretary’s discovery requests, the order compelling responses, or the motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment and $25,014 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. faced 37 alleged violations in consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving the Buck Creek Mine. The company did not answer discovery requests, an order compelling responses, or the Secretary’s motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment and $32,750 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. faced 50 alleged violations in nine consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving the Buck Creek Mine. The company did not answer discovery requests, an order compelling responses, or the Secretary’s motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default…
Knife River Coal Mining Co.
Supplemental discrimination relief and final order
Knife River Coal Mining Co. was previously found to have discriminated against Arthur R. Olmstead by discharging him in violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The parties agreed that Olmstead had been reinstated and agreed on much of the back-pay calculation, but they did not resolve every…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment and $50,364 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. faced 28 alleged violations in consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving the Buck Creek Mine. The company did not answer discovery requests, an order compelling responses, or the Secretary’s motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in…
Buck Creek Coal Inc.
Default decision affirms 26 violations and $58,865 penalty
Buck Creek Coal Inc. faced four consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving 26 alleged violations and $58,865 in proposed penalties. After Buck Creek failed to answer discovery requests, a motion to compel, and a later motion for default, Judge T. Todd Hodgdon entered a default decision. He…
Buck Creek Coal Inc.
Twelve citations affirmed by default
Buck Creek Coal Inc. faced 12 alleged violations at its Buck Creek Mine, and the Secretary sought $13,612 in civil penalties. The cases had been stayed while related criminal proceedings were pending, and the company later pleaded guilty to all 12 criminal counts. Buck Creek did not answer the…
Nevada Cement Company
Fatal-accident citations affirmed in settlement
Nevada Cement’s mechanic Preston Niemeyer was fatally injured when a service truck rolled over him while he worked beneath it. The judge found that the truck’s parking brake should have been set and its wheels blocked, because the mechanic was not in a position to prevent the truck from moving. The…
Wiser Construction
Highwall citations affirmed, penalty reduced
Wiser Construction operated at the Monroc Pit, where loose material and large rocks remained on a highwall above front-end-loader work areas. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found two violations of the requirement to slope loose material to the angle of repose or otherwise protect the pit perimeter. He found…
Island Creek Coal Company
Mixed reporting and safety rulings
Island Creek Coal Company and two employees were involved in consolidated proceedings at the Ohio 11 Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon dismissed the individual matters in KENT 95-502 and KENT 95-519, vacated and dismissed two company actions in KENT 95-214, modified one order by reducing negligence and…
Knife River Coal Mining Co.
Misfired-shot safety violations affirmed
Knife River Coal Mining operated the Savage Mine in Montana. After a shot misfired, a supervisor required a miner to return to the pit in street clothes and without required protective equipment to help detonate it. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon affirmed two violations, found the conduct an unwarrantable…
Lion Mining Company
Roof-control violation affirmed on remand
Lion Mining Company was cited after it mined a notch from a coal pillar without first installing roadway posts required by its roof control plan. On remand from the Commission, Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the violation was significant and substantial and resulted from unwarrantable failure…
Cedar Coal Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Steve Baker, a front-end loader operator for Cedar Coal Company, said he was fired after refusing to operate a loader whose heater and defroster did not work and whose windows were frosted. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Baker's account was not inherently incredible and that conflicting testimony…
Knife River Coal Mining Co.
Discriminatory discharge found
Arthur R. Olmstead worked for Knife River Coal Mining Co. at its Savage Mine and was known for raising safety concerns. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company discharged Olmstead for repeatedly making safety complaints, rather than for the stated reason of dishonesty about his medical status…
Cannelton Industries, Inc.
Coal accumulation violation and foremen liability affirmed
Cannelton Industries operated the Stockton Mine, where an inspector found a large accumulation of loose coal and coal dust beneath a belt scraper. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the accumulation developed over about two weeks and that the operator's foremen made little or no effort to remove it…
LAC Bullfrog Incorporated
Blast-area citation affirmed and one personal case dismissed
A blast at LAC Bullfrog's underground gold mine was followed by a 40 to 50 ton ground fall in an adjacent drift where three supervisors were present. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company failed to clear the drift before blasting, in violation of the warning and blast-area restriction…
APG Lime Corp.
Roof-fall citation vacated
APG Lime operated the underground Kimballton limestone mine in Virginia. A roof slab fell and fatally injured two miners operating a drill, and MSHA cited APG for failing to use ground support. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the calcite seam and other conditions observed before the fall did not…
Tilcon Connecticut, Inc.
Conveyor citation modified and penalty set at $400
Tilcon Connecticut operated a surface rock quarry and crushing plant where an employee was injured when a conveyor started without the required audible warning. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company violated the conveyor-warning standard, but rejected the allegation of unwarrantable failure…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane orders affirmed and modified
Jim Walter Resources operated coal mines with recurring methane problems and contested several orders and citations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that placing curtains to divert methane away from a monitor violated the methane-monitor and methane-control standards, and that both violations were…
Knife River Mining Company
Temporary economic reinstatement approved
Knife River Mining Company employed Arthur R. Olmstead at the Savage Mine. The Secretary of Labor, on Olmstead's behalf, sought his temporary reinstatement in a discrimination proceeding under section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The parties reached an agreement for temporary economic reinstatement, and…
Western Fuels Utah, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Gary Belveal, a roof bolter and union safety committee chairman at Western Fuels Utah's Deserado Mine, filed Mine Act complaints about the company's accident program, injury reporting, and mine safety conditions. He alleged that the company placed him on temporary total disability instead of…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and penalties modified
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a coal feeder being moved with combustible accumulations, incomplete fire-resistant covering, and inadequate grounding. The judge affirmed the citation and order in docket WEVA 95-117, finding a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1003-2 that…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and penalties modified
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a coal feeder being moved with combustible accumulations, incomplete fire-resistant covering, and inadequate grounding. The judge affirmed the citation and order in docket WEVA 95-117, finding a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1003-2 that…
Secretary of Labor v. Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Deposition barred pending criminal matters
Buck Creek Coal sought to depose an MSHA supervisory special investigator and obtain investigative materials in consolidated proceedings. The judge found that the investigator was heavily involved in related criminal investigations and that allowing the deposition could harm those matters. The…
D & E Coal Company, Inc.
Default decision assesses $35,000 penalty
D & E Coal Company did not respond to orders, a settlement proposal, or a later order to show cause in a civil penalty proceeding. The judge found the company in default and affirmed seven orders. The decision assessed a $35,000 civil penalty and directed payment within 30 days, with dismissal…
Old Ben Coal Company
Unsupported-roof citation vacated and agent petitions dismissed
MSHA alleged that Old Ben Coal employees worked or traveled under unsupported roof after a roof fall at Mine No. 20, and that company agents knowingly authorized the conduct. MSHA also alleged that Dallas Runyon knowingly authorized two coal-accumulation violations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that…
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree, employed by J&E Coal Company Incorporated
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree (FMSHRC VA 95-17 and VA 95-18): One violation established and settlements approved
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree were employed by J&E Coal Company at Mine No. 1. The Secretary alleged that both men knowingly authorized violations involving coal and coal dust accumulations and inadequate rock dusting. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved Danny Keith Crabtree’s settlement…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Ventilation citation affirmed and penalty corrected to $3,650
Broken Hill Mining Company was cited after permanent ventilation stoppings were not maintained through the third connecting crosscut at its No. 3 Mine. The Judge rejected the company's argument that the area qualified for the regulation's room exception and found the violation significant and…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Settlement approved with $1,254 penalty
Broken Hill Mining Company agreed to settle all citations in two civil penalty proceedings. The proposed penalties totaled $1,747, and the approved settlement reduced the payment to $1,254. The Judge vacated and dismissed two citations, modified four others as specified in the settlement, and…
Wiser Construction LLC
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
The Secretary proposed a settlement reducing Wiser Construction LLC's civil penalty from $4,300 to $2,150. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He approved the settlement and ordered the company to pay $2,150 within 40 days. The case was…
Cedar Creek Quarries, Inc.
Dismissal motions denied and cases consolidated
Cedar Creek Quarries' president and a foreman asked the judge to dismiss civil-penalty petitions alleging knowing violations of mine safety standards. They argued that the delay between the alleged violations and notice of personal liability was unfair, that Mine Act section 110(c) was…
Topper Coal Company, Inc.
Inspection-interference citation affirmed as modified
During a spot inspection for smoking articles, Topper Coal's owner called underground after inspectors told him not to alert the miners. The judge found that the call impeded the inspection and violated section 103(a) of the Mine Act. The citation's negligence level was reduced from reckless…
Buck Creek Coal Co.
Stay denied and discovery objection partly granted
The Secretary of Labor sought a stay of civil proceedings involving Buck Creek Coal and objected to several proposed depositions and discovery requests because of a related criminal investigation. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon denied the stay because the Secretary did not establish a sufficient commonality…
BSC Construction, Inc.
Settlement approved and citation modified
BSC Construction faced a civil penalty proceeding involving two alleged violations of the Mine Act's training regulations. The Secretary modified the citation to vacate all references to 30 C.F.R. § 48.31(a), leaving the alleged violation under 30 C.F.R. § 48.28(a). Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved…
Old Hickory Coal Company
Settlement rejected for insufficient support
Old Hickory Coal Company proposed reducing a $10,000 penalty to $5,500 and changing two section 104(d)(2) orders to section 104(a) citations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the facts submitted did not adequately support the proposed changes, including the removal of unwarrantable-failure…
Cedar Creek Quarries, Inc.
Settlement rejected for lack of penalty support
Cedar Creek Quarries was charged with refusing to cooperate with an MSHA investigation and proposed a $2,000 penalty. The parties submitted a settlement that would withdraw the penalty. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon rejected the agreement because the motion did not provide enough facts to support…
U.S. Steel Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after resolution
Terry McGill filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against U.S. Steel Mining Company concerning the Oak Grove Mine. The parties resolved their differences, and McGill requested permission to withdraw the complaint. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon granted the request under Commission Rule 11 and dismissed…
Buck Creek Coal Company, Incorporated
Remand penalty reassessed at $5,500
The Commission reversed Judge T. Todd Hodgdon's earlier conclusion that Buck Creek's violation of the preshift examination standard was not significant and substantial. On remand, the judge treated the violation as significant and substantial, found that it involved a high degree of gravity, and…
Broken Hill Mining Company
One citation modified and one vacated
Broken Hill Mining Company and employee Donald Kidd faced separate citations after a lighter was found in Kidd's lunch bucket at the No. 1 Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the evidence did not prove Kidd willfully carried the lighter underground, so he vacated Kidd's citation and dismissed…
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.