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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Calhar Construction Inc.
Late contest remains dismissed
CalHar Construction employed field construction workers and a four-person administrative staff in Texas. After a fatal accident, OSHA issued two serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $3,375. An office employee called OSHA because she found the citation confusing, left a message…
Montgomery Security Doors & Ornamental Iron, Inc.
Late contest relief denied
Montgomery Security Doors & Ornamental Iron was a small ornamental-iron manufacturer and installer in Alabama. OSHA issued five serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $5,150, but the company mailed its notice of contest nine days after the deadline. The company said its vice…
F&E Erection Company
Constructive discharge found after Commission remand
Bryce Dolan worked for F&E Erection Company on lead-paint removal at an alumina plant. He complained that the crew's respirators and Tyvek suits did not adequately protect workers from lead exposure, and he resigned after F&E offered continued use of the existing equipment and a temporary…
Southern Energy, Inc.
In re Southern Energy, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal No. 00-2): petition withdrawn and appeal dismissed
Mead Johnson petitioned for review under the federal PSD permit rules in a matter involving Southern Energy, Inc. Mead Johnson later told the Environmental Appeals Board that it had reached a settlement with Southern Energy and asked to withdraw the petition. The Board granted the motion and…
Earnest Yazzie, employed by Agronics, Inc.
Section 110(c) proceedings dismissed
The Secretary brought section 110(c) civil penalty proceedings involving Earnest Yazzie and Leland T. Taylor, employees associated with Agronics, Inc., in two consolidated dockets. After a settlement conference and at the hearings, the Secretary vacated the section 110(c) charges. Judge Gary Melick…
Agronics, Inc.
Five-docket settlement approved with $17,000 penalty
Agronics, Inc. faced civil penalty proceedings in five consolidated dockets concerning its Clod Buster Pit No. 1. After a settlement conference and hearings, the Secretary vacated three citations and proposed reducing the penalty to $17,000. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement acceptable under…
Seven Seventeen HBE Colorado Corporation d/b/a/ Antler's Adam's Mark
Late refund request denied
Seven Seventeen HBE Colorado Corporation operated the Antler's Adam's Mark hotel in Colorado Springs. The company corrected the cited conditions and paid the full $9,000 penalty without filing a timely contest, then later asked for a refund. It argued that it had not operated the hotel at the time…
Justis Supply & Machine Shop
Three citations affirmed at a dragline assembly site
Justis Supply & Machine Shop performed cutting and welding on a dragline being assembled near BHP Minerals' Navajo Mine in New Mexico. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the dedicated dragline site was a mine under the Mine Act and that Justis was an independent contractor performing services…
Mac Construction
Fall-protection case settled for $1,100
Mac Construction performed construction work in Wisconsin. OSHA cited the company for inadequate jobsite inspections, insufficient safety training, employees working more than 25 feet above a lower surface without fall protection, and employees using aerial lifts without personal fall-arrest…
Corna/Kokosing Construction Co., Inc.
Brief open scaffold gate violated fall rule
Corna/Kokosing Construction worked on a middle-school construction project in Ohio. Two employees unloaded materials from a forklift pallet onto a scaffold about 28 feet above the ground. After the pallet was removed, a five-foot gate remained open for several seconds while the employees used…
American Tower, LLC
Oral disagreement did not preserve contest rights
American Tower had erected a radio tower for the Township of Verona, New Jersey. After an OSHA inspection prompted by an injury complaint, the company received a citation alleging serious violations. Its owner orally disagreed with the citation and later said he believed he had contested it, but no…
Boh Brothers Construction Co., L.L.C.
Unbalanced pipe lift violations affirmed
Boh Brothers was a heavy-construction contractor building a power plant in Alabama. A crew lifted six steel pipes weighing about 12,000 pounds in an unbalanced basket hitch, and the foreman approached and tried to guide the suspended load by hand. Pipes shifted, and the load crushed the foreman…
FPC, Inc., and its successors
Unguarded balcony violation affirmed
FPC was the general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Houston. OSHA observed upper-floor balconies without guardrails and an employee clearing trash from a second-floor balcony without other fall protection. FPC disputed that any employee worked near the edge and said trash was…
RNC, Inc.
Companion-case stipulation yields split result
OSHA cited RNC, Inc. after investigating a workplace fatality. RNC and the Secretary stipulated that the outcome of the related Summit Habitats, Inc. case would control RNC's citation. After deciding the companion case, the judge applied that result to RNC. Citation Item 1 was vacated, while Items…
Dumbarton Quarry Associates
Safety-retaliation layoffs upheld
Anthony Saab alleged that Dumbarton Quarry Associates retaliated against him for raising equipment and highwall safety concerns with MSHA by laying him off for one day and then laying him off again when the quarry's water-truck work changed. The Commission held that the operator showed legitimate…
Rosebud Mining Company
Official release contains conflicting orders
Rosebud Mining operated the Josephine No. 3 underground coal mine. MSHA alleged that a panic bar on a mobile bridge carrier required more than 15 pounds of force to deenergize a connected continuous miner, and proposed a $184 penalty after a miner suffered crushing injuries. The first signed…
Dakota Underground, Inc.
Water-accumulation item remanded after court ruling
Dakota Underground performed excavation work in Fargo, North Dakota. The administrative law judge had affirmed willful violations involving trench egress, accumulated water, and cave-in protection, while vacating a competent-person inspection item. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the Commission's final…
Cleveland Steel Container Corp.
Challenge to settlement withdrawn
OSHA inspected Cleveland Steel Container's Illinois facility and issued a citation and proposed penalty. The company and OSHA then signed an informal settlement agreement resolving the citation. Cleveland Steel Container soon sought to rescind the agreement and filed a notice of contest, leading to…
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH
In re Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 99-8 through 99-72): reconsideration motions denied
The EAB had denied review of the reissued PSD permit for Knauf Fiber Glass's proposed fiberglass facility in California. Eight petitioners sought reconsideration, raising concerns about pollution limits, environmental justice, permit technology, and the scope of the earlier decision. The Board held…
Tito Coal
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $250
Tito Coal resolved this civil penalty proceeding through a settlement after the hearing. The settlement reduced the proposed penalty from $1,000 to $250. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. Tito Coal was ordered to pay the $250 penalty in…
Northern Kansas Rock, Inc.
Reopening granted after illness caused a late contest
Northern Kansas Rock, a small family-owned company, missed the 30-day deadline to contest proposed civil penalties after the owners were away and dealing with serious health problems. The Commission majority found that the company intended to contest the penalties and that the circumstances…
Plateau Mining Corporation
Hazardous ignition had to be recorded after being reported
Plateau Mining operated the Willow Creek underground coal mine. A methane, coal-dust, or hydrocarbon ignition lasted about 45 to 60 seconds, was extinguished, and was not recorded in the mine's on-shift book. Judge Richard W. Manning held that a certified mine official can have "found" a hazardous…
Cox Transportation Corp./Cox Rock Products, Inc.
Jurisdiction motion denied after fatal truck accident
Cox Transport's driver was fatally injured when his clothing became entangled in a bottom-dumping truck outside an aggregate mine's gateposts. The accident occurred on an unpaved road about 300 feet from the mine's scale house while the driver was on his first trip to collect material. Judge…
BWX Technologies, Inc.
In re BWX Technologies, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 97-5): accelerated decision reversed and case remanded
BWX Technologies was accused of storing hazardous waste in an unpermitted surface impoundment called the Cold Pond at its nuclear-fuel-component facility in Virginia. BWX argued that enriched uranium continuously contaminated the pond, making the waste mixed radioactive waste outside RCRA…
Superior Rigging & Erecting Co.
Commission affirms lifeline item and remands competing fall-protection charges
Superior Rigging was installing elevator sill angles in a 24-story office building in Montgomery, Alabama when a foreman fell down an elevator shaft. The Commission held that installing the nonstructural sill angles was not steel erection work covered by OSHA's temporary stay of the Subpart M…
RAG Emerald Resources Corp.
Pre-shift examination violation affirmed, $55 penalty assessed
The case concerned work at RAG Emerald Resources Corp.'s Emerald No. 1 Mine. MSHA alleged that the company assigned certified persons to work in return air courses, escapeways, and bleeder entries before those areas received the required pre-shift examination. The issue was whether supplemental…
Collier Stone Company
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Collier Stone asked to reopen penalty assessments that had become final after it failed to contest them within the Mine Act's 30-day period. The company said the penalties were excessive for its operations and that it was facing financial, operational, and emotional difficulties after the death of…
BR&D Enterprises, Inc.
Reopening request remanded for evidence review
BR&D Enterprises asked to reopen a penalty assessment after it said it mailed a hearing request by certified mail on December 27, 1999, but the request was not delivered to MSHA. The company supplied a postal receipt and related correspondence, but the receipt did not show what it had sent. The…
The Coteau Properties Co.
Discrimination dismissal denied over late filing evidence
Royal Sargent alleged that The Coteau Properties Co. suspended him, transferred him, restricted his job availability, and placed him on probation after he raised safety issues. His initial discrimination complaint to MSHA was filed 49 days beyond the stated 60-day period. Judge Michael E. Zielinski…
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 98-2): appeal partly reversed and remanded
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company appealed an Initial Decision finding that it made 379 shipments of misbranded pesticides in April 1994 and assessing a total civil penalty of $1,895,000. The Board held that EPA's Worker Protection Standard labeling rules establish a misbranding standard under…
Ben Shepherd dba Happy Candy Co.
Housekeeping and electrical violations affirmed against an absent cotton candy maker
Ben Shepherd ran Happy Candy Co., a small cotton candy production business in Secor, Illinois. After an OSHA complaint inspection, OSHA issued two citations covering a dirty production area and a series of electrical hazards, plus a lack of protective clothing. Shepherd contested the citations but…
Summit Habitats, Inc.
Floor-cover violations affirmed, training item vacated after a fatal fall
Summit Habitats was a Colorado home builder. During construction of a custom home in December 1998, a two foot by three foot opening in the main floor was covered with a stapled plastic sheet to hold heat in the basement. The next day a subcontractor's employee walked between the wall studs…
Consolidation Coal Company
Mixed disposition, three orders modified or vacated, $9,500 assessed
Consolidation Coal Company operated the Loveridge No. 22 underground coal mine. MSHA issued three 104(d)(2) orders for coal accumulations under 30 C.F.R. § 75.400, inadequate rock dust under 30 C.F.R. § 75.403, and an inadequate preshift examination under 30 C.F.R. § 75.360(a)(1). The parties also…
Tow Brothers Construction, Incorporated
Settlement approved, $22,500 penalty assessed
The case arose after foreman Wayne Walter's right hand and forearm were caught in an unguarded trap feed conveyor head pulley while he performed maintenance at the Cedar Rapids Crusher. The Secretary proposed $52,500 in penalties for six citations involving conveyor guarding, machinery safety, and…
Dotson Trucking Company, Incorporated
Haul-road and brake citations affirmed after fatal accident
A truck driver died after losing control of a refuse truck on a steep, slick haul road at the Long Fork Preparation Plant. The Secretary alleged that the truck lacked adequate brakes and was operated at an imprudent speed for the road conditions. Judge Gary Melick found that Dotson Trucking…
Contractors Sand and Gravel, Inc.
EAJA fee award reinstated and remanded
Contractors Sand and Gravel had prevailed in an earlier Mine Act case, and an Administrative Law Judge awarded attorney's fees and expenses after finding that the Secretary's position was not substantially justified. The Commission later reversed that award, but the D.C. Circuit held that the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding reversed and penalty remanded
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found that Robinson Run No. 95 lacked the required supply of supplementary roof supports within four crosscuts of a working section. The Administrative Law Judge found a violation but concluded that the operator's conduct was not an…
Consolidation Coal Company
Methane explosion case partially remanded
Consolidation Coal Company's Blacksville No. 1 Mine experienced a methane explosion during installation of a dewatering pipe, killing four contractor employees and injuring two others. The Commission reviewed one citation and three orders involving ventilation, methane examinations, and…
Kennecott Barney's Canyon Mining Company
Mixed discrimination findings, $11,500 assessed
Kennecott Barney's Canyon Mining Company operated the Barney's Canyon surface gold mine, where Mark Pollock and Tony Lopez served as miners' representatives. The Secretary alleged that Kennecott discriminated against them after they raised safety concerns and assisted with MSHA complaints. Judge…
Homes by Bill Simms, Inc.
All seven items vacated because the builder did not control its subcontractors
Homes by Bill Simms was a residential general contractor in Springboro, Ohio, that built custom homes using subcontractors. During an August 1999 inspection of three of its home sites, OSHA saw subcontractor employees committing scaffold and fall protection violations and issued Simms a seven-item…
Windsor Coal Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding and $2,500 penalty on remand
Windsor Coal Company operated the Windsor Mine, where MSHA found extensive combustible coal dust and coal spillage along a belt entry. On remand from the Commission, Judge Avram Weisberger found that the accumulations had existed for at least one shift, that Windsor had notice its compliance…
LeTourneau, Inc., and its successors
Deck-opening violations vacated for lack of employer knowledge after a fatal fall
LeTourneau built ships at Sabine Pass, Texas, including a Gorilla V jack-up offshore oil rig. In September 1998, a LeTourneau engineer, Paul Dew, fell about 90 feet to his death from an unguarded derrick platform while inspecting the area for upcoming piping work. OSHA cited LeTourneau for two…
Molalla Redi-Mix and Rock Products, Inc.
Settlement approved at $17,000
Molalla Redi-Mix and Rock Products, Inc. faced four civil penalty proceedings involving citations at its operations. The parties settled all issues at the hearing. Judge Richard W. Manning approved the settlement, vacated Citation No. 4375520, and ordered the company to pay $17,000 in eight…
A&K Earth Movers, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement affirmed
Curtis Stahl alleged that A&K Earth Movers fired him after he complained about worn brakes on a fuel truck. An Administrative Law Judge ordered temporary reinstatement after finding that the discrimination complaint was not frivolous. The Commission affirmed that order, explaining that evidence of…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Kingsville Naval Air Station, Kingsville, Texas
In re U.S. Department of the Navy, Kingsville Naval Air Station (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 99-2): complaint dismissed
EPA alleged that the Navy violated the lead-based paint Disclosure Rule by entering into eleven Residency Occupancy Agreements for housing at Kingsville Naval Air Station without the required disclosures. The Presiding Officer treated the agreements as contracts to lease and granted accelerated…
J & C Mining, L.L.C. and Manalapan Mining Co., Inc.
Discrimination proceeding dismissed
Grant Noe alleged that J & C Mining constructively discharged him after he refused a transfer to the third shift. He said he was concerned about the shift foreman, prior injuries, and the effect on his family. Judge Gary Melick found that Noe did not have a good-faith, reasonable belief that the…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination decision remanded
Leonard Bernardyn, a haulage truck driver at Reading Anthracite Company's Pit 33, was discharged after he complained that slippery road conditions made it unsafe to drive faster. The Administrative Law Judge found that Reading had proven it would have fired Bernardyn for profanity and threatening…
Excel Mining LLC
Amicus participation granted
The International Chemical Workers Union Council asked to intervene in Excel Mining's Commission review of a silica-sampling dispute, or alternatively to participate as an amicus curiae. The Commission denied intervention because the union had not shown a direct enough interest or why amicus…
Kerns Brothers Tree Service
Hard-hat citation vacated because employer knowledge was not proven
Kerns Brothers Tree Service was cited after a three-person tree-trimming crew leader was fatally struck by a falling section of tree while none of the crew members wore hard hats. The hard-hat rule applied, and the crew leader counted as a supervisor because he directed the work and could order…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Settlement approved on remand for $165
The Commission had determined that Jim Walter Resources' Central Supply Shop was subject to the Mine Act and remanded the matters for penalty assessment. On remand, the parties agreed that the company would pay $55 for each of three non-S&S citations. Judge Jerold Feldman approved the settlement…
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH
In re Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 99-8 through 99-72): permit review denied
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH planned to construct a fiberglass manufacturing facility in Shasta Lake, California, under a PSD permit issued by the Shasta County Air Quality Management District. Petitioners challenged the revised permit's best available control technology determination for PM10, its…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Gary Dean Munson alleged that Eastern Associated Coal discharged him because he had made safety complaints and contacted MSHA. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that the complaint was not frivolous, citing evidence of protected activity, management knowledge, possible hostility, and different…
Eagle Coal Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Raymond Roman alleged that Eagle Coal Company constructively discharged him after he complained about excessive dust, met with an MSHA investigator, and observed an unsafe electrical condition. Judge Gary Melick found that the temporary-reinstatement application was not frivolous because the…
Molloy Mining, Inc.
Clerical errors corrected in a $1,066 settlement
Molloy Mining contested six citations issued by the Secretary of Labor and later agreed to settle them. The judge’s settlement decision mistakenly listed three penalties as $295 each and set the total at $1,174, instead of $259 each and $1,066 total. The Commission reopened the final order under…
Bauman Landscape, Inc.
Reopening request remanded for a merits determination
Bauman Landscape asked to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final Commission order after the company did not timely contest it. The owner said he never received the proposed assessment, did not know about the penalties, and had already paid penalties for the same violations. The…
Kyber Coal Company
Penalty-proposal method corrected before trial
Kyber Coal Company faced proposed penalties for approximately 219 alleged violations at the underground Elmo No. 5 Mine after a 1993 explosion that killed one miner. The judge held that MSHA had improperly used penalty criteria based on another operator’s mine operation and should apply the…
Mullet Repair Shop
In re Mullet Repair Shop (EAB CAA Appeal No. 00-(1)): complaint dismissed without prejudice
EPA charged Mullet Repair Shop with Clean Air Act violations involving wood heaters, combination wood and coal heaters, and coal-only heaters. EPA alleged that the business manufactured or offered the heaters for sale without the required labels or testing and sought a total civil penalty of…
Champion Environmental Services, Inc.
Settlement approved, ending a contested construction citation
Champion Environmental Services was cited after OSHA inspected one of its construction work sites. The serious citation alleged two violations of the construction standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1926.1101. Champion contested, and the case was set for an E-Z Trial in Chicago. At the December 1999 hearing…
Reliable Roofing, Inc.
Settlement approved on five construction-safety items
Reliable Roofing contested a serious citation issued after OSHA inspected one of its construction worksites. The citation alleged five electrical, ladder, and training violations, and the case was assigned to the Commission's E-Z Trial procedure. The parties reached a written settlement just before…
Eagle Food Centers, Inc.
Forklift-horn citation vacated because the Secretary did not prove vision was obstructed
Eagle Food Centers ran a large food distribution warehouse in Milan, Illinois. In January 1998 a pallet jack operator was struck and killed by a highlift when the two vehicles met at an automatic plastic door between the freezer department and the loading dock. OSHA cited Eagle under the…
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.