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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Virginia Slate Company
Guarding and access violations modified with $4,400 penalty
Virginia Slate operated an open-pit slate operation where an MSHA inspector identified unguarded machinery, unsafe access, missing berms, missing impeding devices, defective horns, and other equipment and workplace conditions. Judge Avram Weisberger found violations of several mandatory safety…
RockGen Energy Center
In re RockGen Energy Center (EAB PSD Appeal No. 99-75): review denied
Responsible Use of Rural and Agricultural Land petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board to review a revised prevention of significant deterioration permit for the RockGen Energy Center, an electric power generating facility in Wisconsin. The petitioner argued that the state permitting agency had…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
S&S designation deleted and penalty remanded
Cyprus Emerald was cited for failing to investigate a mine accident as required by 30 C.F.R. § 50.11(b). The Commission had previously treated the violation as significant and substantial, but the D.C. Circuit held that an S&S finding is available only for a violation of a mandatory health and…
Quinn & Kwolek, Inc.
Citation affirmed after the employer ignored discovery orders
Quinn & Kwolek did not answer the Secretary's interrogatories, document requests, or requests for admission by the required deadline. It then failed to comply with Judge G. Marvin Bober's order compelling discovery and offered no explanation. Finding a pattern of disregard for the proceeding, the…
In the matter of: Connie Prater
Counsel withdrawal granted and show-cause order issued
This disciplinary proceeding concerned Connie Prater’s participation in a matter before the Commission. Her counsel asked to withdraw after reporting that Prater was seriously ill and would not make further appearances. The judge granted the withdrawal, directed that future documents be served…
Bryce Dolan v. F & E Erection Company
Discrimination finding vacated and remanded
Bryce Dolan was an iron worker who removed lead-based paint at an alumina smelter and complained that F & E Erection Company did not provide adequate protective equipment. An ALJ found that Dolan’s work refusal was protected and later awarded back pay, attorney’s fees, and expenses, while excluding…
Northern Illinois Steel Supply
Safety-belt violation affirmed with penalty reduced to $50
Northern Illinois Steel Supply delivered steel to a limestone quarry, where its driver stood on the load without a safety belt or line while unloading. The judge found that NIS was an independent contractor covered by the Mine Act and that the condition violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.15005, was…
Lodestar Energy, Inc.
Two weekly-examination orders modified, $205 penalty assessed
Lodestar Energy operated the Wheatcroft underground coal mine, where inspectors found an uncorrected sagging-roof condition and missing weekly-examination records for mine airways. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found both conditions violated the cited Mine Act standards, but ruled that the Secretary had…
The Coteau Properties Co.
Late discrimination complaint given a chance to show cause
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 statutory 60-day period. Judge Michael E…
Quad Manufacturing Corp.
Failure-to-abate case settled for $6,000 over 24 months
Quad Manufacturing operated a Wisconsin machine shop where an OSHA follow-up inspection found chain slings without readable identification, missing sling-inspection records, and improperly labeled chemical containers. The proposed failure-to-abate penalties totaled $60,000, while Quad still owed…
New Age International
Scaffold violations affirmed with reduced penalties totaling $825
New Age International performed masonry and stucco work at a San Antonio U-Haul project where two workers used an incompletely planked rolling scaffold without proper access or full guardrails. New Age argued that the workers belonged to an independent subcontractor, but Judge Stanley M. Schwartz…
Montana Power Company
Roof-edge violation affirmed with penalty reduced to $1,000
Montana Power was upgrading electrical service at a Missoula motel when an employee worked on the roof about 22 feet above the ground without a lanyard, guardrail, or safety net. The company argued that working from its aerial-lift basket was infeasible because the motel's weather heads faced…
V-1 Oil Company
In re V-1 Oil Company (EAB RCRA (9006) Appeal No. 99-1): underground storage tank penalty affirmed
V-1 Oil Company temporarily closed two underground storage tanks at its facility in Twin Falls, Idaho, but did not permanently close them within the required period. V-1 argued that filling the tanks with water changed their service and that an EPA guidance booklet excused compliance with the…
Jerry Hudgeons, employed by Ash Grove Cement Company
Late penalty petitions accepted
The Secretary sought individual penalties against Jerry Hudgeons and Fred Walker for alleged Mine Act violations at Ash Grove Cement Company’s Foreman Quarry and Plant. The Secretary filed the penalty petitions three and five days late after the files were misplaced during assignment in the…
Northwest Conduit Corp.
Dismissal vacated so the citation can be heard on its merits
Northwest Conduit filed its notice contesting an OSHA citation one day late, but an ALJ granted relief from the resulting final order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). The Secretary initially refused to file a complaint, and the judge dismissed the citation, but the Commission later…
Centralia Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement denial affirmed
Levi Bussanich claimed that Centralia Mining Company discharged him because he had previously raised mine-safety concerns. An ALJ denied temporary reinstatement after finding no colorable claim that Centralia had discharged him rather than accepting his reported resignation. The Commission majority…
Wolcottville Sand and Gravel Corporation
Discrimination dismissal affirmed
Gilbert V. Ankrom said Wolcottville Sand and Gravel retaliated against him after he reported inadequate berms and other safety concerns. The ALJ found that Ankrom made a prima facie discrimination case, but also found that the company would have laid him off and failed to recall him for economic…
Bowie Resources Limited
Roof-support citation vacated after fatal roof fall
Bowie Resources was cited after a December 1998 roof fall at its underground Bowie No. 2 Mine killed two miners during retreat mining. MSHA alleged that the mine should have added roof support or stopped the final cut because floor heaving, roof cutters, rib sloughage, and earlier mining conditions…
A & K Earth Movers, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Curtis Stahl alleged that A & K Earth Movers fired him after he complained about seriously defective brakes on a fuel truck and removed the truck from service. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Stahl’s testimony was not inherently incredible and that the complaint was not frivolous, even though the…
Durbin Coal, Inc.
Motion to dismiss discrimination complaint denied
The Secretary of Labor filed a discrimination complaint for Michael Jenkins and Michael Mahon, alleging that Durbin Coal discharged or constructively discharged them because it suspected they had made or caused a safety complaint to MSHA. Durbin Coal asked the judge to dismiss the complaint or…
O'Brien Concrete Pumping, Inc.
Hopper training and machine-guarding violations affirmed
O'Brien Concrete Pumping operated trucks with rotating auger blades inside concrete hoppers, and one operator was fatally crushed by the blades after a concrete pour. The company had removed bolts securing the heavy hopper grate so operators could raise it while cleaning and repositioning the…
Arch of Illinois
Decision on remand, discrimination complaint dismissed
Gary D. Morgan alleged that Arch of Illinois failed to recall him for a position after he failed a hands-on test on a bolter because of his protected safety activities. The Commission vacated the judge's first decision and remanded the case for fuller consideration of evidence about supervisors'…
Florida Canyon Mining, Incorporated
Motion to stay denied
Florida Canyon Mining contested MSHA letters terminating an agreement that had extended the time to address respirable dust conditions. The parties asked to stay the proceeding while they discussed extensions and a possible settlement. Judge David F. Barbour denied the stay because Judge Paul…
Sterling Ventures, LLC
Testimony preservation authorized before a proceeding began
The Secretary of Labor sought permission to depose Placido (Carlos) Lino, an employee of Sterling Ventures, before starting a proceeding because he might leave the country and become unavailable to the Commission's subpoena power. The request concerned a fatal accident at the mine in which a miner…
Eagle Boats, Inc.
Fourth abatement-extension request denied for lack of good faith
Eagle Boats sought a fourth extension of the deadline to correct violations that had become final in 1998 and later produced $66,000 in failure-to-abate penalties. The company repeatedly said a new facility was being built, but at the hearing it offered only photographs of an empty field…
Delta Energy Center
In re Delta Energy Center (EAB PSD Appeal No. 99-76): petition dismissed for lack of standing
Calpine Corporation and Bechtel Enterprises proposed the Delta Energy Center, an 880-megawatt electric generating facility in California. Californians for Renewable Energy challenged provisions of the facility's final prevention of significant deterioration permit. The Board held that the…
Lone Mountain Processing, Inc.
Pillar-recovery citation modified and penalty increased
Lone Mountain Processing operated a large underground coal mine where MSHA cited the company after finding that roadway posts required during pillar recovery were missing or improperly placed. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found no violation in the No. 2 heading, but found that the No. 3 heading condition…
Holt Company of Texas
Fatality-related citations modified
Holt Company of Texas was cited after mechanic Benny Duncan suffered fatal injuries while working on a Caterpillar 990 loader without securing its raised bucket. Judge Gary Melick found that the failure to secure the bucket violated the mobile-equipment standard and was significant and substantial…
Otis Elevator, Inc.
Elevator-platform fall violation reduced from repeated to serious
Four Otis Elevator employees, including the Montana territory manager, rode an unguarded elevator platform at a hotel project without tying off, exposing them to a fall of as much as 112 feet. Otis had detailed fall-protection rules, training, audits, and progressive discipline, but all four…
Keystone Cement Company
Motion to compel informant identities denied
Keystone Cement asked the judge to require the Secretary to identify which named witnesses had provided particular interview statements to MSHA. The Secretary had disclosed the potential witnesses and produced interview notes, but redacted each interviewee's identity based on the government…
Northwestern Resources Co.
Interlocutory review certification denied
Northwestern Resources asked the judge to certify for interlocutory review a prior ruling that allowed the Secretary to file a civil-penalty petition late. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon applied Commission Rule 76 and found that the ruling did not involve a controlling question of law. The judge explained…
30 River Court East Construction Corp.
Fall citation vacated because OSHA did not identify the worker's employer
OSHA observed a worker near the open perimeter of the 27th floor of a Jersey City high-rise without fall protection and cited the general contractor, 30 River Court East Construction. The compliance officer believed the worker was installing winter-protection plastic, work performed by the…
Accu-Rate Roofing Co.
Four roofing safety items affirmed for a $1,200 penalty
OSHA observed an Accu-Rate Roofing employee shingling a steep roof about 13 feet above the ground without fall protection. The access ladder was not tied off, did not extend three feet above the roof edge, and left the employee without a secure handhold when stepping onto the roof. The employee…
Caribe General Electric Products, Inc.
In re Caribe General Electric Products, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 98-3): review denied in part and corrective-action remand
Caribe General Electric Products, Inc. challenged a post-closure RCRA permit for a retired electroplating facility in Puerto Rico. The permit required corrective action at facility units and two off-site areas of concern. The Board upheld the groundwater notification provision, the designation and…
Whitewater Building Materials Corporation
Two S&S designations removed while citations affirmed
Whitewater Building Materials Corporation operated the HM2 Crusher mine, a sand and gravel operation. MSHA charged five violations, including two alleged significant and substantial violations, and proposed a total penalty of $393. The parties agreed to keep the penalty unchanged while removing the…
Rosebud Mining Company
Roof-bolter canopy settlement approved
Rosebud Mining Company contested two citations involving canopies on Long-Airdox roof bolting machines at the Josephine No. 3 low-seam coal mine. MSHA alleged that the canopies did not protect operators from roof or rib falls when they were at the controls, and characterized both conditions as…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Off-site supply shop held to be a mine
Jim Walter Resources operated a Central Supply Shop away from its underground coal mines, stocking and delivering equipment, tools, and supplies used in its mining operations. An ALJ had concluded that the shop was not a mine and dismissed the proceedings after JWR contested citations issued when…
Consolidation Coal Company
Drill-dust citation dismissed after ventilation evidence
Consolidation Coal Company operated the Blacksville No. 2 underground coal mine, where MSHA cited a ventilation-control condition involving drill dust around roof bolter operators. The remaining contested citation alleged that the mine violated 30 C.F.R. § 72.630(d), while a prior partial…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Abatement-extension contests dismissed
Nolichuckey Sand Company contested three section 104(b) withdrawal orders issued after it did not install railings or emergency stop devices on conveyor catwalks at the Bird's Bridge Mine. The operator asked MSHA to extend abatement while a related Commission case was pending and argued that the…
Centralia Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement denied after quit finding
Levi Bussanich sought temporary reinstatement after Centralia Mining Company separated him from his job at the Centralia surface coal mine. The Secretary alleged that the separation was connected to Bussanich's protected safety activity, while Centralia maintained that he had voluntarily quit…
Root Neal & Company
Loader-bucket and training violations affirmed
Root Neal & Company was a contractor installing and calibrating loader scales at Elam Sand and Gravel's West Bloomfield surface mine. During the work, an unsecured front-end-loader bucket descended after a hydraulic line was removed, pinning Elam employee Michael Corbin and causing injuries. Judge…
MEI Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Martin Electronics, Inc.
DOD contract does not preempt OSHA safety rules
MEI manufactured explosives and pyrotechnic devices under a Defense Department contract at its Perry, Florida plant. After a fire in a small wooden production building killed two employees and severely burned another, OSHA cited fire, exit, personal-protective-equipment, training, and…
Fred Chismar, employed by Cyprus Sierrita Corporation
Knowing violation penalties vacated after lime-burn accident
Fred Chismar supervised operations at the Sierrita copper mine, where employees and a contractor were unloading lime into a tailings pond to neutralize an acidic mixture. An employee walked to the pond without protective clothing, fell into the lime mixture, and suffered serious burns requiring…
Chantilly Crushed Stone, Inc.
Penalty assessments reopened after mail delay
Chantilly Crushed Stone asked the Commission to reopen five penalty assessments that had become final orders after MSHA received its hearing request late. The company said it mailed the request within the 30-day period but that postal delays delayed delivery until after the deadline. The Commission…
L & D Construction
Late contest excused and citation vacated because the owner had no employees
OSHA cited L & D Construction after seeing two people working without fall protection on a pitched roof at a volunteer renovation project in Yonkers, New York. The notice of contest was filed months after the 15-working-day deadline because L & D's owner relied on the building owner, who repeatedly…
Consolidation Coal Company
Mary Johnson v. Consolidation Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 99-81-D): Mine Act discrimination complaint dismissed
Mary Johnson alleged that Consolidation Coal Company delayed accepting a Workers’ Compensation claim for injuries she suffered while passing through a man-door at the Loveridge No. 22 Mine, which delayed her Workers’ Compensation payments. She sought interest on the late benefits under section…
Sproule Construction Co., Inc.
Uncontested penalty assessment reopened
Sproule Construction asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested citation that had become a final order after the company did not file a timely hearing request. Sproule said it had been representing itself and was unfamiliar with Commission procedure, and it sought to consolidate the citation…
Williams Brothers Coal Co., Inc.
Four citations modified and $561 penalty assessed
Williams Brothers Coal Company operated the small No. 3 underground coal mine in Pike County, Kentucky. MSHA cited the mine after an inspection found electrical grounding and de-energization problems, conveyor and belt-line maintenance issues, a missing mine map, and a non-functioning fire sensor…
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking
Wheel-rim fatality citations split
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking operated the Seymour Road Pit, where mechanic and welder Nile Arnold was fatally injured when a wheel rim exploded during tire inflation. The ALJ found that the mine did not use the required wheel restraint or stand-off inflation device, and that it failed to notify…
Valle Construction, LLC
Default order vacated and remanded
Valle Construction failed to answer a penalty petition and a judge’s show-cause order, leading to a default order assessing $1,533 in penalties. The company later wrote to the Commission that it had closed its cinder pit and believed it had been excused from paying the penalties. The Commission…
Ogden Constructors, Inc.
Penalty assessment remanded for reopening review
Ogden Constructors asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after it mistakenly believed that no contest filing was needed while MSHA investigated the citation. The company said it received MSHA’s explanation only after the contest deadline expired. The Commission could not decide the…
Ogden Constructors, Inc.
Jurisdiction mistake leads to remand for reopening review
Ogden Constructors asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after it mistakenly believed that a crushing plant was outside MSHA’s jurisdiction. The company said its Utah office had closed, personnel had relocated, and it could not locate the original assessment by the time it learned the…
Material Service Corp.
Stockpile fatality citation vacated
Material Service Corporation operated the Thornton Quarry, where contract driver Charles E. Street was fatally buried and asphyxiated by limestone that sloughed from a stockpile. MSHA alleged that the stockpile should have been trimmed under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9314. The ALJ found that the Secretary did…
Briggs & Stratton Corp., Peach Metal Industries Site
In re Briggs & Stratton Corp., Peach Metal Industries Site (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 95-3): reimbursement petition withdrawn with prejudice
Briggs & Stratton Corp. had a CERCLA section 106(b) petition seeking reimbursement related to the Peach Metal Industries Site. The company and EPA entered an agreement for recovery of past response costs, and EPA reported that the public-comment period ended without comments requiring changes or…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Withdrawal order modified after remand
Jim Walter Resources contested a citation and withdrawal order for combustible trash in the No. 7 Mine. The case returned to the ALJ after appellate and Commission review required consideration of non-violative trash near the cited condition when assessing unwarrantable failure. The ALJ found that…
Manalapan Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered after nonfrivolous discrimination claim
Vernon Daniels worked as a mobile bridge carrier operator at Manalapan Mining Company's RB No. 7 Mine. The Secretary alleged that Manalapan laid him off because he made himself available to testify, and later testified, in protected Mine Act proceedings. Manalapan waived a hearing, denied…
Alcoa Alumina and Chemical, LLC
Informant-privilege opposition allowed to be supplemented
Diane Krock was the complainant in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding against Alcoa Alumina and Chemical. Alcoa asked the judge to compel the return of company emails that were in Krock's possession, while the Secretary argued that producing them could identify a miner who had provided…
Allied Custom Gypsum, Inc.
Settlement approved with reduced civil penalty
Allied Custom Gypsum, Inc. faced a civil penalty petition alleging eight violations at its Bessie Plant. The parties reached a settlement that removed the significant-and-substantial designations from three citations and reduced their penalties to $55 each, while Allied agreed to pay the proposed…
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH
In re Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 99-8 through 99-72): certain appeals dismissed
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH had a revised PSD permit for a proposed fiberglass manufacturing facility in California. The EAB received 65 petitions after the remand process and reviewed threshold challenges to timeliness and standing. The Board dismissed seven late petitions, two late supplemental…
UtiliCorp United, Inc.
In re UtiliCorp United, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal Nos. 99-2 and 99-3): interim relief and review denied
UtiliCorp United operated a coal-fired power plant in Sibley, Missouri, with three units sharing a common stack. Unit 3 was subject to a nitrogen oxide emissions limit, and UtiliCorp proposed using an apportionment method to show that Unit 3 complied. The Environmental Appeals Board held that 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.