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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Mingo Logan Coal Company
Documented mailed contest was reopened
Mingo Logan said it mailed a form contesting 16 of 60 proposed penalties and sent payment for the uncontested penalties the next day. The company supported its request with the safety manager's affidavit and a copy of the marked contest form showing when it was allegedly mailed. MSHA had no record…
Lapp & Sons
Stale MSHA address meant no final assessment existed
Lapp & Sons said it faxed a citation contest to an MSHA inspector as instructed but did not receive the proposed assessment before a delinquency notice arrived. Its June 2008 legal identity report showed a different address from the one MSHA used for the August assessment. The Commission concluded…
ABC Gravel, Inc.
Undelivered assessment left nothing to reopen
Federal Express could not deliver ABC Gravel's proposed penalty assessment because no one was available at the address, and the package was returned. The Secretary said she would resend the assessment by certified U.S. mail. ABC would then have 30 days after receipt to pay or contest the proposed…
Hopkins County Coal, LLC
Receipt-date dispute required a good-cause hearing
Hopkins County Coal intended to contest 38 of 80 proposed penalties but attributed its late filing to an ice storm and week-long power outage. The Secretary showed that the assessment may have arrived on December 22, 2008, making the contest late before the January 27 storm, while the company said…
Vurnun Edwurd Jaxun v. Asarco, LLC
Safety complaints did not motivate the discharge
Vurnun Edwurd Jaxun was a probationary haul-truck trainee at Asarco's Mission Complex when he was reassigned to help clean a slurry spill at the mill. He raised concerns about working in his orthopedic boots and about supervision, then was discharged after objecting to the assignment in a meeting…
Lake County Sewer Company
Excavation workers found to be Lake County Sewer employees
An excavation collapsed during sewer work in Willowick, Ohio, injuring one worker. On remand from the Commission, the judge reconsidered whether Lake County Sewer or Brennan Excavating employed the three excavation workers at the site. The judge credited the workers' testimony and payroll records…
Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. dba Six Flags Great America
Health violations affirmed with $50,000 in penalties
OSHA inspected maintenance, painting, sign, welding, first aid, and park-service operations at Six Flags Great America and issued a 29-item serious citation. The allegations involved peroxide storage, chemical-resistant gloves, respirators, lead, hexavalent chromium, bloodborne pathogens…
Sidney Coal Company
Fax failure and backup procedures required fact-finding
Sidney Coal previously contested several orders and said its safety director later faxed the proposed penalty assessment to counsel. Counsel had no record of receiving it, and the company blamed an undetected mechanical failure for the missed penalty contest. The Secretary did not oppose relief…
Lafarge Aggregates Southeast, Inc.
Detailed second request supported reopening
The Commission had denied Lafarge's first reopening request because its reference to administrative error did not explain the missed contest. In a second motion, Lafarge said its safety manager did not receive this assessment even though he received and contested two others from the same…
Randy Pack
Personal penalty contest was timely after actual notice
MSHA assessed Randy Pack personally under section 110(c), but neither Pack nor his counsel received the proposed assessment after an earlier citation conference. They first learned of the penalty from a delinquency notice, and counsel later received the assessment attached to the Secretary's…
Menominee Tribal Enterprises
Thirteen stipulated citation items affirmed after coverage ruling
Menominee Tribal Enterprises and the Secretary stipulated to the violations, their classifications, and the proposed penalties, leaving only whether the Occupational Safety and Health Act applied to the cited activities. The judge had previously ruled that the Act applied. The Menominee Indian…
WKJ Contractor's Inc.
Citation appeal did not explain missed penalty contest
WKJ Contractor's said it mailed a notice appealing a citation to MSHA's Barbourville office. That document may have contested the citation, but WKJ did not explain why it failed to return the later penalty assessment form to MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office as instructed. The Secretary did…
Brooks Run Mining Company, LLC
Receptionist's routing error supported reopening
Brooks Run's receptionist failed to forward a proposed penalty assessment to the safety manager. The manager did not learn of the assessment until a delinquency notice arrived, and the company promptly moved to reopen. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission reopened and remanded the…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Unmarked assessment made reopening request deficient
MSHA assessed Spartan Mining $208,985 for 163 citations and orders at the Ruby Energy Mine. Spartan said it never received the Federal Express package and asked to reopen only the penalties marked on an attached assessment form, but no penalties were marked. Even after the Secretary identified that…
Alex Energy, Inc.
Staff absence disrupted penalty procedure and supported reopening
Alex Energy's standard process for handling proposed penalty assessments was not followed while a key employee was absent. As a result, the contest form was sent late. The company moved promptly after learning of the delinquency, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened…
Custom Copper & Slate, Ltd.
Lead-citation settlement remained binding despite late contest
OSHA issued Custom Copper & Slate a fourteen-item serious citation under the lead-in-construction standard with proposed penalties totaling $4,500. On the final day of the contest period, the company signed an informal settlement affirming every item and reducing the total penalty to $750. More…
Rockhouse Energy Mining Company
Three violations affirmed and $4,406 assessed
MSHA alleged three S&S violations at Rockhouse Energy's Mine No. 1 and proposed $5,160 in penalties. Judge David F. Barbour affirmed an S&S roof-control violation because deteriorating roof and hanging draw rock endangered the examiner who traveled the return entry weekly. He affirmed a loose-coal…
Walton CWCA Golden West 70, LLC (U.S. Colloidal Site)
In re Walton CWCA Golden West 70, LLC (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 08-03): reimbursement petition dismissed
Walton CWCA Golden West 70, LLC petitioned for reimbursement of costs it said it incurred while conducting CERCLA removal activities at the U.S. Colloidal Site in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The parties reached a settlement that became effective on May 1, 2009. The Environmental Appeals Board…
Mach Mining, LLC
Unapproved bleeder-design change violated the ventilation-plan rule
Mach Mining developed Headgate No. 3 about 1,000 feet beyond the panel length shown on its approved ventilation maps before MSHA approved a proposed amendment. Mach argued that the maps merely projected future mining and that it was following the approved ventilation methods for headgate…
Hancock Materials, Inc.
Undelivered assessment left no final order
MSHA mailed Hancock Materials a proposed assessment after the operator had gone out of business. The assessment was returned undelivered, and Hancock did not learn of it within the 30-day contest period. The Secretary agreed that service had not occurred and said she would mail the assessment to…
Black Mountain Industrial Minerals, LLC
Management transition supported reopening
MSHA sent Black Mountain's proposed assessment to the prior operations and safety director, who had left the company that month. A newly appointed director and a facility layoff contributed to the assessment not being forwarded on time. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission…
Ron Powell, employed by Oakridge Sand & Gravel
Settlement confusion supported reopening
MSHA assessed Ron Powell personally under section 110(c). While the parties negotiated a settlement, confusion arose over which penalties the agreement covered, and Powell's penalties were not contested on time. The Secretary supported reopening so the settlement could be approved. The Commission…
Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC
In re Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal No. 09-01): petition denied for lack of PSD jurisdiction and standing
EPA Region 1 issued Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC a PSD permit for two natural-draft cooling towers in Somerset, Massachusetts. Bristol County Broadcasting, Inc. asked the EAB to review the permit because it believed the towers could interfere with AM radio transmissions. The Board explained…
Tri-Star Mining, Inc.
Six highwall violations settled for $105,324
MSHA issued six citations and orders after a highwall collapse fatally injured equipment operators Dale Jones and Michael Wilt at Tri-Star Mining's surface facility. The alleged violations involved highwall stability planning, work near dangerous highwalls, inspections and records, bench…
XMV, Inc.
Responsibility mix-up explanation lacked detail
XMV said it missed the penalty-contest deadline because the company believed its law firm would file the contest while counsel believed the company would file it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission held that this brief assertion lacked the specific facts needed to establish good…
Brahma Group, Inc.
Address dispute required fact-finding on finality
Brahma Group timely contested two citations but said it never received the later penalty assessment or delinquency notices because MSHA repeatedly used the wrong address. The Secretary said the documents went to Brahma's address of record and noted that operators must keep their official address…
Matter of Andres GUZMAN-GOMEZ
Stepchildren cannot derive citizenship through nonadoptive stepparents
The Board reviewed a removal appeal by a lawful permanent resident born in Mexico who claimed United States citizenship through his United States citizen stepfather. The Immigration Judge had ordered him removed based on robbery and other criminal-removability charges. The Board held that the…
Thomas J. Smith, Inc.
Default review denied for lack of an explanation
Thomas J. Smith failed to answer a penalty petition and did not respond to the Chief ALJ's show-cause order, resulting in a default judgment. The company's timely letter seeking Commission review said only that the show-cause order had not been forwarded to the safety director. The Commission…
Premier Chemical, LLC
General confusion did not justify reopening
Premier Chemical paid two assessments covering 59 citations but later asked to reopen them. It cited confusion surrounding the assessment process and factual disagreements with the citations without giving specific facts about why it missed the contest deadlines. The Secretary opposed reopening…
Fisher Sand & Gravel Company
Reopening request gave no reason for the delay
Fisher Sand & Gravel asked to contest penalties from a July 2008 assessment after the assessment had become final. Its request gave no explanation for missing the 30-day contest deadline. The Secretary opposed reopening on that basis. The Commission denied the request without prejudice because…
Castle Wood Products
Apparently mailed contest supported reopening
The record indicated that a Castle Wood official may have sent the penalty contest form on time, but MSHA had no record of receiving it. The company promptly sought relief after learning that the assessment was delinquent. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and remanded…
Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC
New employee omitted two intended contests
A recently hired Dickenson-Russell employee sent payment for all penalties except two that the company intended to contest. The employee inadvertently failed to file the two contest forms and submitted them after discovering the mistake. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission…
Mosaic Phosphates Company
Employee's family illness supported reopening
Mosaic Phosphates sent its penalty contest form after the deadline. The record indicated that an illness in an employee's family contributed to the delay. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and remanded the final assessment, directing the Secretary to file a penalty…
Precision Drilling, Inc.
Claimed contest required a good-cause determination
Precision Drilling said that after receiving an assessment containing two penalties, it filed a contest of one of them. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but did not address the company's claim that a contest had been filed. The Commission did not decide whether the assessment was final or…
Morris, Inc.
Unexplained eight-day delay defeated reopening
Morris filed a contest of one $100 penalty eight days after the deadline but gave no reason for the delay. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. A three-Commissioner majority denied relief without prejudice because Rule 60(b) requires an explanation before a final order can be reopened. Chairman…
Matter of Roberto CARDENAS ABREU
Late-reinstated appeal does not undo conviction finality
The Board reviewed a lawful permanent resident's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied his motion to reopen removal proceedings. The respondent argued that a New York court's permission to file a late criminal appeal meant his burglary conviction was not final for immigration purposes. The Board…
G.A. West & Co., Inc.
Pulp-machine lockout citation vacated for lack of close-contact proof
G.A. West was a resident contractor at an Alabama pulp mill where an employee was seriously injured near a pulp machine and later died. OSHA's citation addressed different employees who had installed electrical conduit beneath the operating machine several days earlier without locking it out. The…
Shell Offshore, Inc.
In re Shell Offshore, Inc. (EAB OCS Appeal Nos. 08-01, 08-02, and 08-03): petitions dismissed as moot
EPA Region 10 issued Shell Offshore, Inc. a minor-source air permit for the Kulluk drilling vessel to operate in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska. Bill MacClarence, the North Slope Borough and other Alaska organizations, and the Alaska Wilderness League and other environmental organizations petitioned…
Muht-Hei Inc. d/b/a Campo Materials
Tribal-election disruption required a good-cause hearing
Campo Materials, a tribal company owned by the Campo Band of Mission Indians, missed both the assessment and delinquency-response deadlines. It attributed the delay to two contested tribal elections. The Secretary opposed reopening and argued that the explanation was inadequate. The Commission…
The Banner Company, LLC
Unsupported belief that penalties were contested was insufficient
Banner's safety director believed he had contested penalties for two citations, but MSHA had no record of receiving a contest and the company supplied no filing evidence. Banner also did not explain why it waited until August to seek reopening after receiving a delinquency notice in May. The…
Old Dominion Energy, Inc.
Omitted fax attachment supported reconsideration and reopening
The Commission had previously denied Old Dominion's reopening motion without prejudice. On reconsideration, the company supplied materials showing that the assessment form had been inadvertently left out of a fax sent to its counsel, causing the missed contest. The Secretary had not opposed the…
Cintas Corporation
Timely telephone contest supported reopening
Cintas apparently contacted an MSHA district office within 30 days of receiving the assessment and told agency employees by telephone that it was contesting the penalty. MSHA had no written record of receiving a contest form. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and…
Webster County Coal, LLC
Paired-assessment processing error required a good-cause hearing
Webster County Coal had already contested two related withdrawal orders when MSHA issued their penalty assessments separately. The company timely returned the form for one assessment and believed the second had been processed at the same time, but an internal mistake left it unfiled. Webster sought…
Orlowski Company, Inc.
Stairway and willful fall-protection penalties totaled $56,600
Orlowski Company admitted one serious stairway violation and two willful fall-protection violations at a Chicago construction site, contesting only the penalty amounts. Employees used stairways without handrails, a foreman performed masonry work on an unguarded scaffold more than 12 feet high, and…
Black Butte Coal Company
Safety-manager transition supported reopening
A transition between Black Butte's outgoing and incoming safety managers led to a miscommunication with counsel about whether the penalty contest form had been sent. The assessment became final as a result. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and remanded the assessment…
Penn Virginia Resource Partners
Good-faith reliance on underlying contest supported reopening
Penn Virginia believed in good faith that its contest of the underlying order was enough to preserve its challenge and that no separate penalty contest was required. It moved promptly after learning that the Secretary considered the assessment final. The Secretary did not oppose reopening on that…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 08-25): petition dismissed with prejudice
General Electric Company withdrew its petition challenging conditions in NPDES Permit No. MA0003891. EPA Region 1 told the Board that it also intended to withdraw the contested conditions and propose modified conditions for public review and comment. The Board approved GE’s withdrawal and dismissed…
John P. Vidiksis
In re John P. Vidiksis (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-02): 69 lead-disclosure violations and $97,545 penalty affirmed
John P. Vidiksis leased residential property covered by the federal lead-based paint Disclosure Rule. An Administrative Law Judge found 69 violations of requirements governing the Lead Warning Statement and disclosure of known lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, and assessed a $97,545…
Matter of Ajmal Hussain Shah HASHMI
Factors for continuing removal proceedings during a pending visa petition
The Board reviewed a Pakistani visitor's removal case after he married a United States citizen and became the beneficiary of a pending family-based visa petition. The Immigration Judge denied a fifth continuance while the petition remained pending, relying in part on case-completion goals, and the…
Hopkins County Coal, LLC
Personnel-file enforcement dispute stayed
MSHA cited Hopkins County Coal for refusing to produce personnel records requested during a miner-discrimination investigation, issued a withdrawal order, and cited the company again for continuing to operate. The company challenged MSHA's authority, the breadth and clarity of the request, and…
Matter of Jose S. MARTINEZ-MONTALVO
Arriving alien adjustment jurisdiction under the Cuban Adjustment Act
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting a Cuban arriving alien adjustment of status under the Cuban Adjustment Act. The Board held that Immigration Judges generally lack jurisdiction over an arriving alien's adjustment…
Extra Energy, Inc.
Unexplained filing failures did not justify reopening
Extra Energy asked to reopen three final penalty assessments, stating that an unnamed representative failed to contest them after the company did not return a confirmation call. The Secretary opposed reopening because the explanation was conclusory and the company waited four to five-and-a-half…
S & S Rock
Former representative's failure supported reopening
S & S Rock asked to reopen three penalty assessments that had become final after no timely contests were filed. Its president stated that the company had hired a representative to submit the contests, but the representative failed to do so without the company's knowledge. The Secretary did not…
Graymont (PA) Inc.
Safety director's medical absence supported reopening
Graymont asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when the company did not file a timely contest. The company explained that its safety director was away from work for an operation and returned after the contest period had expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Manalapan Mining Company
Financial hardship did not justify reopening
Manalapan Mining asked to reopen an assessment because paying its total outstanding penalty balance would cause hardship. The Secretary opposed relief, explaining that inability to pay is not a ground for reopening and that installment arrangements might be available through the Treasury…
Lueders Limestone, LP
Health-related absence supported reopening
Lueders Limestone asked to reopen two penalty assessments that became final when no timely contests were filed. The record showed that the company's general partner was absent from work during much of the relevant period because of health problems. The individuals who took responsibility for…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Roof-control settlement reduced penalties to $56,900
MSHA alleged that Wolf Run Mining violated its approved roof control plan in two orders and attributed both violations to unwarrantable failure. One order involved a crosscut advanced 43 feet beyond permanent roof support when the plan limited advancement to 30 feet, and MSHA initially classified…
Matter of Gabriel ALMANZA-Arenas
Proof required for cancellation of removal after a theft conviction
The Board reviewed a Mexican citizen's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied cancellation of removal and granted voluntary departure. The respondent had a California vehicle-theft conviction and argued that his record did not establish a crime involving moral turpitude, but he did not provide…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Mixed rulings produced a $5,306 penalty
MSHA issued ten citations at three limestone plants operated by Nelson Quarries. The judge affirmed a seat-belt violation but removed its significant and substantial designation because the truck moved only a short distance for inspection, while affirming another seat-belt violation involving…
E. Smalis Painting Co., Inc.
Commission reduced lead-case penalties to $1.09 million
E. Smalis Painting removed lead-based paint from the Tarentum Bridge using abrasive blasting inside a tarp containment. OSHA measured six workers at lead exposure levels ranging from more than 18 to 669 times the permissible exposure limit, then cited four serious and 202 willful violations with…
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.