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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Clean Energy Mining Company
Failure to send assessment to counsel supported reopening
Clean Energy Mining asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when no timely contest was filed. The record showed that an employee inadvertently failed to transmit the assessment to the company's counsel, so counsel never filed the contest. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Brooks Run Mining Co., LLC
Dust-citation findings modified and $7,700 assessed
Brooks Run did not dispute four significant and substantial violations of the respirable-dust limit at its Cucumber Mine, but both sides sought changes to gravity, negligence, and the number of miners affected. The judge found that isolated overexposures in two citations were reasonably likely…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Lost assessment supported reopening of 66 citations
Big Ridge asked to reopen a final assessment containing $143,652 in penalties for 66 citations. The company said the assessment should have been sent through intercompany mail to its safety director, but it was lost and could not be found after MSHA issued a delinquency letter. The Secretary did…
Excel Mining, LLC
Damaged roof-bolter cable was significant and substantial
MSHA cited Excel Mining after an inspector found a three-inch damaged area in the outer insulation of a 575-volt roof-bolter cable at the underground Van Lear Mine. Excel stipulated that the condition violated the requirement that power cables be adequately insulated and fully protected, but…
Big Ridge, Inc.
General explanations did not support reopening
Big Ridge asked the Commission to reopen a final assessment covering 50 citations and $259,795 in proposed penalties. The company filed its contest after the 30-day deadline and attributed the delay to overwhelming business matters, inadvertence, mistake, and internal miscommunication. The…
A. G. Carter Construction Company
Repeated trench warnings supported two willful violations
A. G. Carter Construction installed underground utilities in trenches near Prattville, Alabama. After a fire marshal warned owner Alton Carter about the lack of cave-in protection, a ladder, proper spoil-pile placement, and water controls, similar conditions remained when OSHA inspected one week…
Big Sky Well Service
Grinder use near crude-oil vapors led to $10,150 in penalties
Big Sky Well Service sent two employees to remove and replace a leaking crude-oil storage tank at an Ohio well site. A supervisor used an electric grinder to cut a notch in the tank while another employee worked on top, and the tank exploded, throwing that employee into nearby woods and causing a…
Dierzen-Kewanee Heavy Industries, LTD
Unabated hazards resulted in $133,100 in penalties
Dierzen-Kewanee manufactured dump-truck bodies at a former boiler factory in Illinois. After settling earlier OSHA citations, the company paid only the first penalty installment, did not provide requested abatement information, and left many cited conditions uncorrected for a follow-up inspection…
Matter of Juan Carlos ZORILLA-VIDAL
Solicitation of a controlled-substance offense
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Colombian citizen. The respondent had a Florida conviction for soliciting the delivery of cocaine and argued that the conviction did not relate to a controlled…
Double Bonus Coal Company
Undelivered assessments had not become final
Double Bonus asked to reopen two penalty assessments that it said it never received. Evidence showed that one assessment was returned to MSHA as undeliverable and that the other was delivered to a neighboring mine. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission concluded that the assessments…
Matter of M-A-S-
Detention may continue during voluntary departure
The Board reviewed a Qatari student's appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, together with an order granting voluntary departure while he remained detained. The respondent claimed he would face persecution or…
Michael Cline
Contest was timely after actual notice
MSHA proposed a personal penalty against Michael Cline under section 110(c) of the Mine Act, but the assessment was sent to his former office after he transferred from New York to Texas. Cline first learned of it through a forwarded delinquency letter, and his attorney obtained the assessment from…
XMV, Inc.
Routing explanation was too general for reopening
XMV asked to reopen two final penalty assessments after missing the 30-day contest deadline. The company attributed the delay to confusion among employees who signed for the assessments and a failure to follow normal internal routing procedures. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged XMV…
Sierra Cascade, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Sierra Cascade asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed…
Shelton Brothers Enterprises, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Shelton Brothers asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed…
Matter of Leroinex LOUISSAINT
Florida burglary is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Haitian lawful permanent resident who had been convicted of burglary of an occupied Florida dwelling. The Board applied the categorical approach and held that a…
Ohio County Coal Company
Settlement set $14,424 penalty and equipment-cleaning measures
The consolidated cases involved contests and civil penalties arising from 79 alleged violations at Ohio County Coal's underground Freedom Mine. After extended negotiations, the parties resolved the remaining citation, significant and substantial, penalty, and contest issues. Ohio County also agreed…
Secretary of Labor v. Double Bonus Coal Company, et al.
Commission required detailed reopening evidence
The Commission consolidated 13 requests by related operators to reopen final penalty assessments after the Secretary opposed relief in one case and indicated that similar objections might follow in others. It gave the Secretary 10 days to file any amended responses across the cases. The operators…
Swallow Construction Corp.
Eighth cave-in violation drew a $33,000 penalty
OSHA inspected Swallow Construction's Illinois sewer and water project after an employee was electrocuted when a backhoe contacted live overhead power lines. The parties settled all citation items except an allegation that employees worked without cave-in protection in a trench more than five feet…
Mt. View Resources
Vague lost-assessment claim did not support reopening
Mt. View sought to reopen a final assessment so it could contest penalties for nine citations. The operator accepted that the assessment had been properly served but said it was misplaced or lost before reaching its accounting department. It also referred generally to changing office staff and some…
Matter of Jose AGUILAR-AQUINO
Electronic monitoring and home confinement are terms of release, not custody
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal of an Immigration Judge's order setting a $1,500 bond and ordering removal of an electronic monitoring device and waiver of home confinement after the bond was posted. The Board held that custody under 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1(d)(1) requires…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Explosives rulings and foreman agency findings affirmed
Nelson Quarries challenged findings involving improperly stored shock tubing, an inexperienced employee's unsupervised use of explosives, defective vehicle brakes, and whether three plant foremen were company agents. The Commission upheld the significant and substantial finding for shock tubing…
Moltan Company, LP
Fall-protection and crusher-access violations affirmed
Moltan operated a clay mine and processing plant that produced products including kitty litter and oil absorbents. An inspector saw a maintenance electrician working 87 inches above a platform without fall protection and found that workers greased a crusher by traveling along a six-inch-wide area…
Rowan Construction Company
Delivery to another tenant delayed notice
A proposed penalty assessment was delivered to Rowan Construction's building, but another tenant accepted it and passed it to Rowan later. Rowan notified the Secretary that it wanted to contest the assessment after receiving it, and the Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission held that…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Safeguard violation affirmed as S&S and settlements approved
Wolf Run was cited after someone crossed beneath a moving conveyor return belt where the mine lacked a suitable crossover required by a mine-specific safeguard. The operator stipulated to the violation, moderate negligence, serious gravity, and a $1,304 penalty, but argued that safeguard violations…
West Ridge Resources, Inc.
MSHA could halt longwall retreat after repeated coal bursts
West Ridge operated a deep-cover underground coal mine that experienced three reportable coal bursts in seven days, including one that knocked a miner into a shield and caused a fractured rib and partially deflated lung. MSHA issued a section 103(k) control order and later allowed the company to…
Andrew Electric Company
Unsecured breaker-box key led to $6,900 in penalties
An Andrew Electric electrician was electrocuted while installing fluorescent light fixtures near an energized junction box at a Georgia dealership remodeling project. The judge found that the company's safety program lacked adequate electrical-safety rules and that the electrician did not receive…
WCI Steel, Inc.
Crane runway-support inspection violation drew a $2,000 penalty
A 40-ton overhead crane collapsed at WCI Steel's Ohio plant while moving steel slabs, but no one was injured. OSHA cited WCI for failing to inspect the crane's runway support structure, maintaining an improperly set hoist limit switch, and overloading the crane. The judge held that a complete…
CPM Constructors
Flagger-sign citation failed under the incorporated traffic-control rules
CPM Constructors performed paving work in a busy pedestrian and retail area in Freeport, Maine. After moving its crew and flagger to another portion of the work zone, CPM left a Flagger Ahead sign about four-tenths of a mile from the remaining flagger for approximately 45 minutes. OSHA cited the…
FM Home Improvement, Inc.
Roofers were employees despite contractor documents
OSHA found seven roofers working without fall protection on a steep residential roof approximately 31 feet above the ground. FM Home Improvement did not dispute the unsafe condition, but argued that the workers belonged to an independent subcontractor and were not its employees. Applying the…
D & H Gravel
Three citations vacated and penalties reduced to $500
D & H Gravel was a very small, seasonal sand-and-gravel quarry with one part-time miner when MSHA issued 21 citations and one training withdrawal order during its first inspection. The owner said he did not know the Mine Act applied, but the judge explained that mine operators are strictly liable…
Northern Michigan University Ripley Heating Plant
In re Northern Michigan University Ripley Heating Plant (EAB PSD Appeal No. 08-02): permit remanded on five issues
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued Northern Michigan University's PSD permit for a new circulating fluidized bed boiler at the Ripley Heating Plant in Marquette, Michigan. Sierra Club challenged the permit's best available control technology analysis, PSD increment…
United Taconite
Discovery ordered for drill design and training evidence
The consolidated cases arose from a fatal drilling accident in which a drill positioned on a slope tipped onto its side. MSHA cited United Taconite under standards governing equipment use within its design capacity and employee training. United Taconite sought an order incorporating a…
Omis Ricky Smith
Reopening request dismissed because the assessment was never served
Omis Ricky Smith asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that he believed had become final. The Secretary determined that the assessment had not been served and planned to send it again to the correct address. The Commission held that without service, the assessment never…
ISP Minerals, Inc.
Reopening request dismissed because the assessment was never served
ISP Minerals asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that it believed had become final. The Secretary determined that the assessment had not been served and planned to send it again to the correct address. The Commission held that without service, the assessment never became a…
The Samuels Group, Inc.
Missing scaffold top rail resulted in a $1,000 penalty
The Samuels Group used a scaffold for masonry work approximately 60 feet above the ground. Its cross-bracing was about 32 inches high, which could not substitute for the required top rail, and stacked masonry blocks were neither high nor stable enough to serve as equivalent guarding. The judge…
Southern Industrial Constructors
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Southern Industrial Constructors asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest was filed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that it may grant relief from a final assessment for reasons such as…
Holcim (US) Incorporated
Paid penalty case dismissed with prejudice
Holcim contested a citation and order, but did not timely contest the related $6,700 proposed penalty because it reported that the assessment was never received. After the Commission remanded the reopening request, the Chief Administrative Law Judge found excusable neglect and reopened the penalty…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Late-contest issue remanded for good-cause finding
Wolf Run Mining asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was filed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that relief may be available for mistake, inadvertence, or neglect when the operator shows good…
Bill Baltrusch Construction, Inc.
Late-contest issue remanded for good-cause finding
Bill Baltrusch Construction asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was filed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that relief may be available for mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect when the…
CCC Group, Inc.
Citations upheld and penalties reduced to $13,425
CCC Group was an independent contractor building a coal loadout facility at the North Antelope Rochelle Mine. MSHA cited unshielded welding near other workers and overhead work performed without adequate protection for workers below. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed the first welding citation as…
J & T Services
Final assessment reopened and remanded
J & T Services asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was filed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that it may grant relief from a final assessment for reasons such as mistake, inadvertence, or…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Two final assessments reopened and remanded
Oak Grove Resources asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that had become final after no timely contests were filed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that it may grant relief from final assessments for reasons such as mistake, inadvertence…
Ruscat Enterprises, Inc.
Final assessment reopened without opposition
Ruscat asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest deadline passed. The Secretary did not oppose the request. Applying the Rule 60(b) framework and its preference for deciding cases on their merits when good cause exists, the…
Standard Sand & Silica Company
Timeliness and good cause sent for fact-finding
Standard Sand asked to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final Commission order. Its safety manager said he checked the contest box and forwarded the assessment to the company's accounts payable department for mailing, but MSHA had no record of receiving it. Standard Sand said it did…
Endurance Mining
Good cause for late contest sent to the Chief ALJ
Endurance Mining asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest deadline passed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission applied its Rule 60(b) framework but did not grant relief outright. It remanded for the Chief ALJ to decide…
Powder River Coal, LLC
Mixed ruling set a $2,603 total penalty
Powder River operated the North Antelope Rochelle Mine, a large open-pit coal mine in Wyoming, and contested eight citations. Four citations were resolved by partial settlement before the hearing. Of the four litigated citations, the Judge vacated a monthly pull-cord testing citation because MSHA…
Lafarge Building Materials, Inc.
Unopposed final assessment reopened
Lafarge, through counsel, asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest deadline passed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. Using the Rule 60(b) framework for relief from final orders and its policy favoring merits proceedings when…
Estacada Rock Products
Good cause for late contest required findings
Estacada Rock Products asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the company missed the contest deadline. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission applied its Rule 60(b) framework but did not decide that good cause had already been…
Brody Mining, LLC
Contest mix-up and delay required fact-finding
Brody Mining intended to pay 11 penalties and contest four others from a 15-citation assessment. Its safety director and counsel each believed the other would complete the contest, leaving the four penalties to become final. The Secretary opposed reopening and questioned why Brody waited more than…
Freeman Rock, Inc.
Vague reopening request denied without prejudice
Freeman Rock asked to reopen a final assessment covering seven citations. It said MSHA's Albany Field Office had changed unspecified procedures and that the company lost track of the contest deadline while building its defense during a busy season. The Secretary opposed reopening because those…
Richard Jaimes v. Stansley Mineral Resources, Inc.
Late discrimination complaint dismissed
Richard Jaimes alleged that Stansley Mineral Resources fired him after he raised safety concerns about haul-truck tires, a leaking wheel cylinder, and coworker conduct. He filed his MSHA discrimination complaint almost five months after the Mine Act's 60-day deadline because he chose to await the…
Webster County Coal
Damaged trailing-cable splices upheld as S&S
Webster County Coal faced multiple citations at the Dotiki Mine and settled all but two before the hearing. The remaining citations involved damaged permanent splices on energized trailing cables carrying 300 volts direct current and 995 volts alternating current. Webster admitted both violations…
United Parcel Service, Inc.
Affected-employee objections sent settlement issues back to the judge
UPS sought Commission review after an administrative law judge affirmed a serious citation with eight instances and assessed a $4,400 penalty. While review was pending, UPS and the Secretary negotiated a corporate-wide settlement, and affected employee Samuel Bucalo filed objections and several…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lawrence L. Pendley v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Discharge and post-reinstatement rulings affirmed
Lawrence Pendley engaged in protected safety activity and previously prevailed on a claim that Highland Mining discriminatorily suspended him for three days in December 2005. This appeal concerned his later suspension and discharge after confrontations with office employees and another miner, plus…
Coal River Mining, LLC
Four battery-station violations upheld with reduced penalties
Coal River Mining contested four enforcement actions issued after scoop batteries overheated at an underground charging station, triggered carbon monoxide alarms, and caused an evacuation without injuries. Judge David F. Barbour found S&S violations involving missing fire suppression, an inadequate…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Roof citation upheld, preshift order dismissed
MSHA cited Eastern Associated Coal for inadequate roof support in seven locations along a 7,000-foot mine entry and for a preshift examination that did not report coal and float-coal-dust accumulations. Judge Avram Weisberger affirmed the roof-control violation as S&S because deteriorated and…
Luminant Mining Company, LLC
Conclusory reopening request denied
Luminant Mining failed to contest a proposed civil penalty within the Mine Act's 30-day deadline and asked the Commission to reopen the resulting final order. The company said only that its late filing resulted from inadvertence and mistake by company personnel. The Secretary opposed reopening…
R S & W Coal Company, Inc.; B & B Coal Company; and Bear Gap Coal Company
One-hour ventilation-plan settlement approved
MSHA revoked the approved ventilation plans at three underground coal mines after the operators declined to add a requirement that main fans run for 1.5 hours before miners entered or underground power was energized. The operators contested the resulting citations and closure orders, and MSHA…
A. L. Grading Contractors, Inc.
Unsafe excavation and untrained flagger drew $25,500 in penalties
OSHA found an untrained employee directing traffic and two workers in a 9.2-foot excavation without cave-in protection or a safe means of egress at an Atlanta-area shopping-center project. The judge rejected the employee-misconduct defense to the training item because the company did not establish…
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.