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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Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Stay continued pending status conference
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. faced a large group of civil penalty and contest proceedings involving its Buck Creek Mine. The ALJ had stayed the cases while the United States Attorney considered related criminal prosecutions. After the criminal cases were completed, the Secretary requested another 90-day…
Savage Zinc, Inc.
Escapeway citation and withdrawal order affirmed
Savage Zinc operated the Elmwood-Gordonsville zinc mine in Tennessee. The mine’s Stonewall production area had only one usable escapeway from its lowest working levels after the No. 6 Shaft became unsafe. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the area required two separate escapeways, rejected the…
Iva Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Larry J. Nease alleged that Iva Coal Company discharged him in retaliation for safety-related activity, including his claim that he had worked under unsupported roof and threatened to report it. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Nease did not prove he complained to management about the unsupported…
Amax Coal West Incorporated
Citations vacated because the wrong operator was cited
Amax Coal West operated the Belle Ayr strip coal mine, where independent contractors installed and used two tanks for spraying dust suppressant on coal. MSHA cited Amax for ladder violations on the tanks and sought a $100 penalty. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the tanks and cited conditions were…
ABM Coal Company, Inc.
Mixed results across four consolidated penalty proceedings
ABM Coal Company faced 32 alleged violations across four civil penalty proceedings at its No. 1 Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved settlements in two dockets, vacated one citation, modified three citations by removing significant-and-substantial designations, and affirmed the remaining citations…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources contested an order issued after a longwall section operated while its ventilation plan required operations to stop because respirable-dust sampling showed noncompliance. The administrative law judge found that the operator had violated its approved ventilation plan and the…
David Reed formerly employed by Gold River Mining Company, Inc.
Gold River Mining Company employees (FMSHRC WEVA 94-172, WEVA 94-155, and WEVA 94-156): Penalty petitions dismissed
David Reed, John Miller, and Donald Saltsgaver, formerly employed by Gold River Mining Company, faced section 110(c) civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged violations of the mine's roof control plan at the Barbara Lynn No. 4 Mine. The Secretary alleged that the three employees knowingly…
Brown Brothers Sand Co.
One citation vacated, eight affirmed or modified, and $1,036 assessed
Brown Brothers Sand Company received nine citations during inspections of its sand operation in Georgia. The ALJ vacated and dismissed the citation for insufficient illumination, affirmed eight other citations, and modified two of those by increasing the negligence finding from moderate to high…
Pontiki Coal Corporation
Contest proceedings dismissed
Pontiki Coal Corporation challenged an enforcement order, two citations, and two orders issued at the Pontiki No. 2 Mine. The contest proceedings concerned an order issued under Mine Act section 103(k), two citations issued under section 104(a), and two orders issued under section 104(b). At an…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Conveyor guard citation affirmed with $50 penalty
MSHA cited Brown Brothers Sand Company after an inspector found that the guard on the tail pulley of a railroad-car conveyor belt was lying on the ground while the belt was operating. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the guard was not securely in place and that no testing or adjustment justified…
Mountaintop Restoration, Inc.
$3,150 in penalties affirmed
Mountaintop Restoration was assessed penalties for 24 violations at its underground coal mines. The violations included an inaccurate check-in and check-out record that failed to show who was underground. The ALJ found all violations proven, rejected the company's claim that the penalties would…
Roxcoal Incorporated
Settlement approved, one citation modified, and $239 assessed
Roxcoal Incorporated faced a civil penalty proceeding involving two citations. The approved settlement removed the significant-and-substantial designation from Citation No. 3706730 and reduced its penalty from $169 to $50. Roxcoal also agreed to pay the proposed $189 penalty for Citation No…
John J. Stack v. Echo Bay Minerals
Discrimination complaint dismissed
John J. Stack alleged that Echo Bay Minerals retaliated against him after he complained that crews were drilling and loading at the same time. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Stack engaged in protected activity, but the evidence did not show that Echo Bay transferred, reassigned, or treated him…
Thomasville Stone & Lime Company
Discrimination complaints dismissed under settlement
James A. Weatherington and Dale H. Hoke filed discrimination complaints under section 105(c) of the Mine Act against Thomasville Stone & Lime Company. The parties entered a settlement under which the company agreed to remove documents related to the events from the complainants’ personnel and other…
Buck Creek Coal Company, Inc.,
Buck Creek Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 93-241): Preshift-examination order modified with $3,000 penalty
MSHA found that three miners entered Buck Creek's underground mine before the required preshift examination had been completed and recorded. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that the maintenance crew was part of the oncoming shift and that the preshift rule applied even though the crew entered during…
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.