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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Crowley American Transport, Inc.
Seat-belt general-duty citation vacated for no proven hazard
Crowley used heavy Capacity tractors to move trailers short distances on and off cargo barges, generally at speeds no greater than 25 miles per hour. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause for not requiring seat belts after a tractor went through a guardrail and fell 20 feet, killing…
Root Neal & Company
Discovery motion partly granted
This civil penalty case arose from a loader-bucket accident in which an Elam Sand & Gravel employee sustained serious injuries to his arms and back while working with Root Neal employees. Root Neal sought documents related to MSHA’s investigation and the Secretary asserted informant, work-product…
Consolidation Coal Company
Preshift-examination citation vacated
Consolidation Coal operated the Robinson Run No. 95 Mine. The Secretary alleged that the mine’s preshift examiner failed to report loose coal and float coal dust conditions on belt conveyors and sought $4,350 in penalties. The parties settled two underlying citation penalties for a combined $1,588…
Limerock Industries, Inc.
Penalty assessment reopened after consolidation misunderstanding
Limerock Industries failed to timely contest a $340 proposed penalty associated with a citation from an MSHA inspection. The company said it believed the citation would automatically be consolidated with other citations that it had already contested, and MSHA did not oppose reopening the…
Sofco Erectors, Inc.
Crane-load citation vacated because operator was not hoisting
A steel connector stood on a beam while trying to align its free end with a column. One end was already bolted, the other was wedged low, and the crane line remained under tension; when the worker pried the beam loose, it sprang upward and bruised his leg. Judge Ken S. Welsch found that the crane…
S.K. Wellman Friction Company
Press guarding, training, inspection, and lockout items affirmed
An employee lost a fingertip while clearing a frequently jammed turntable on a Toledo 250-ton press. Judge Ann Z. Cook found an obvious unguarded nip point, inadequate operator training before first use, and no documented program of periodic press inspections, although setup personnel performed…
Safe & Sure Products, Inc. and Lester J. Workman
In re Safe & Sure Products, Inc. and Lester J. Workman (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 98-4): 85 violations and $30,000 penalty affirmed
Safe & Sure Products and Lester J. Workman failed to comply with pesticide registration, labeling, inspection, recordkeeping, and establishment-reporting requirements. The violations included selling or distributing unregistered or misbranded pesticides and refusing inspections and required…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Leonard Bernardyn drove haulage trucks for Reading Anthracite at the Wadesville Pit. He said he drove slowly because misty weather made the road slippery, and the Secretary alleged that Reading discharged him in retaliation for that protected safety activity. Judge Avram Weisberger found that…
Leeco, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Rodney Smith, a miner and miners' representative at Leeco's Maces Creek Mine. The application alleged that Leeco suspended Smith, interfered with his representative duties, and constructively discharged him after he raised safety concerns and refused…
Chelle Energy, Inc., and Clyde Boyd
Discrimination case dismissed after hearing absence
Brian K. Moore brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Chelle Energy and Clyde Boyd. After the hearing was rescheduled several times, Moore did not appear at the scheduled hearing and contacted the Commission only the afternoon before it, saying he could not get time off work and lacked…
The Doe Run Company
Ground-control citations modified after fatal fall
The Doe Run Company operated the underground Casteel-Buick lead mine. Senior surveyor Jeffrey Sadler was fatally injured when a slab of rock fell while he was setting up a surveying instrument in an underground stope. Judge Gary Melick found that the operator should have tested the ground and taken…
Cusic Trucking, Inc.
Relief from final penalty order denied
Cusic Trucking received a $90 civil penalty after it failed to answer the Secretary's petition for assessment of penalty and a judge's show-cause order. The company later sent the Commission a letter disputing the penalty but did not explain why it missed the response deadline. The Commission…
Clarksburg Casket Company
In re Clarksburg Casket Company (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 98-8): six reporting violations and $96,900 penalty affirmed
Clarksburg Casket Company used toluene and xylene in finishing wooden caskets but failed to file required toxic chemical release forms for 1991, 1992, and 1993. The company challenged the calculation of the chemicals' weight and the use of EPA's EPCRA penalty policy. The Environmental Appeals Board…
Highway 195 Crushed Stone, Inc.
One citation vacated and two affirmed
Highway 195 Crushed Stone operated a crushed stone facility in Texas. MSHA cited the company for an unguarded tail pulley, a partially guarded tail pulley above a travelway, and an unbermed elevated roadway, proposing $191 in penalties. Judge Gary Melick vacated the first citation because the…
Good Construction
Penalty case reopened after certified-mail problem
Good Construction asked to reopen a civil penalty case after it did not claim the certified mail containing the proposed assessment. The operator said its rural office was eight miles from the nearest post office and that a heavy snowstorm delayed its trip to collect the package. Judge Paul Merlin…
Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), and its successors
Duplicate federal citation dismissed
Federal OSHA cited a personnel basket on a shore-based crane because its access doors were not positively secured while the basket was lowered into a vessel. CalOSHA had already cited Stevedoring Services of America for the same condition under California's approved state plan. Judge Benjamin R…
U.S. Borax Incorporated
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Louis W. Dykhoff, Jr. worked as a shipping operator at U.S. Borax's borax mine and processing facility in California. He claimed that a corrective notice for excessive absenteeism was motivated by his safety-related union activity and by his refusal to work while taking prescribed pain medication…
SchoolCraft Construction, Inc.
In re SchoolCraft Construction, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 98-3): five asbestos violations and $20,000 penalty affirmed
SchoolCraft Construction supervised an asbestos-removal project at an elementary school. The Environmental Appeals Board considered whether SchoolCraft was responsible for required notices, keeping regulated asbestos-containing material wet, and maintaining proof of the on-site representative's…
Owyhee Calcium Products, Incorporated
Citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
Owyhee Calcium Products operated a one-person agricultural limestone quarry in Idaho. MSHA alleged 14 mandatory-standard violations and sought $6,580 in penalties. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed most of the citations, vacated the citation for an unused electrical box and the duplicate…
Midwest Minerals, Inc.
Citations affirmed with $20,750 in penalties
Midwest Minerals operated Portable Plant No. 2 and was cited after superintendent William F. Feathers suffered fatal injuries while starting a bulldozer. The judge considered two citations, one involving the failure to immediately report the accident and one involving the bulldozer violation. The…
Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company, Inc.
In re Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 99-1): interlocutory appeal dismissed
Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company appealed a ruling that addressed liability in an underground injection control proceeding. The Board treated the appeal as interlocutory and ordered briefing on whether an administrative appeal was available and whether it could be taken at that stage. Isbrandtsen…
Disciplinary Proceeding
Prosecutor appointment requested
The Secretary of Labor referred Connie Prater for possible disciplinary proceedings, then withdrew from participating in the matter. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the withdrawal left no one to represent the Commission's interests in enforcing ethical standards for practitioners. He therefore…
Chicopee Coal Company, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement and economic relief ordered
Chicopee Coal operated the Lilly Branch Surface Mine in West Virginia, where it used highwall mining machines and also ran a coal preparation plant. Lewis Frank Bates and Earl Charles Albu were discharged after Bates lost supervisory responsibilities and Albu raised concerns about an unmaintained…
Energy West Mining Company
Discrimination settlement approved
Energy West Mining Company faced discrimination complaints from miners who said the company restricted their ability to leave welding or cutting fumes and later transferred Michael Podolak from a longwall setup crew to a rotating shift labor pool. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved a settlement…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Safety-refusal discrimination found
Eastern Associated Coal operated the underground Federal No. 2 Mine in West Virginia, where a mine elevator began making a loud, unexplained noise while miners were preparing to travel underground. John E. Palmer and James W. Taylor refused to allow miners to use the elevator until its condition…
Knife River Corporation
Arthur R. Olmstead v. Knife River Corporation (FMSHRC WEST 99-106-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Arthur R. Olmstead worked as a loader operator at Knife River's Savage Mine in Montana. After earlier Mine Act proceedings had resulted in his reinstatement, the company suspended him for four days and demoted him after he backed a loader into a pickup truck and had prior equipment-safety…
Eastern Ridge Lime Company, L.P.
Ground-support violations affirmed on remand
Eastern Ridge Lime operated a mine where a roof fall caused a fatality and serious injuries. On remand, Judge Avram Weisberger reconsidered the record and held that failures to provide adequate ground support contributed to roof-fall hazards, even though he did not find that the cited violations…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc., Elmo Mayes; William David Riley; Anthony Curtis Mayes; and Mayes Trucking Company, Inc.
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc. and related parties (FMSHRC KENT 95-605-D and related dockets): Back-pay information order
The Commission had remanded Walter Jackson's back-pay calculation after earlier Mine Act discrimination proceedings involving Mountain Top Trucking and related respondents. Judge Jerold Feldman questioned whether Jackson was available for the full period for which he sought lost wages because he…
Baker Drywall Company, Inc.
Aerial-lift and edge fall violations affirmed
Baker Drywall employees relocated metal studs on simulated smokestacks at a movie theater construction site. One worked from an aerial-lift basket without tying off and at one point straddled its top rail, while another stood on a structural ring about 16 feet above a steel roof without fall…
Limerock Industries, Incorporated
Late penalty petition dismissed
Limerock Industries contested fourteen citations and the related proposed penalties, but the Secretary did not file the penalty petition for this docket within the required 45-day period. The Secretary filed the petition more than five months late and attributed the delay to a clerical error. Chief…
Heritage Resources, Inc.
Unguarded conveyor roller violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Heritage Resources operated a sand and gravel pit where a conveyor roller was left unguarded near a path and work area. Samuel Oakes, the pit foreman, died after being pulled into the conveyor's pinch point. Judge David F. Barbour found a significant and substantial violation caused by the…
EK Associates, L.P. d/b/a EKCO/GLACO and EK Management Corp.
In re EK Associates, L.P. d/b/a EKCO/GLACO and EK Management Corp. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 98-4): reporting count restored and penalty issues remanded
EK Associates and EK Management operated a Rockdale, Illinois facility that cleaned and reglazed commercial baking pans with organic solvents. EPA alleged violations of the Chicago federal implementation plan for ozone, including a reporting violation and operating violations, and the presiding…
Unique Mining, Inc.
Penalty assessments reopened after accounting error
Unique Mining asked the Commission to reopen four penalty assessments totaling $200,000 after an accounting firm misfiled the hearing request. The company said it had timely contested the underlying citation and orders, but the green card for the proposed penalties had been attached to an unrelated…
Good Construction
Request to reopen penalty assessment remanded for consideration
Good Construction asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty that had become final after the company allegedly did not receive the penalty assessment for one citation. The company said it had contested five citations, that proceedings involving four had begun, and that it never received the…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Penalty assessment reopened after mistaken payment
Cyprus Emerald Resources asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after the proposed penalty was accidentally paid. The company said it had intended to contest the citation, but the assessment was issued with other penalties that it did not plan to contest and was mistakenly paid. The…
H.E.L.P.E.R., Inc.
In re H.E.L.P.E.R., Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 98-3): complaint dismissal affirmed
H.E.L.P.E.R. operated an electrical-equipment reclamation and recycling facility in South Dakota and processed transformer and mineral oils that could contain PCBs. EPA alleged that the company failed to timely submit a material safety data sheet and hazardous chemical inventory form under EPCRA…
Atlantic Richfield Company (Alsco Anaconda Superfund Site)
In re Atlantic Richfield Company (Alsco Anaconda Superfund Site) (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 96-1): reimbursement petition denied
Atlantic Richfield Company sought reimbursement for costs it incurred while excavating and removing hazardous sludge and contaminated soil at the Alsco Anaconda Superfund Site in Ohio. EPA had ordered the cleanup under CERCLA section 106(a), using a remedy that Atlantic Richfield had supported, but…
Olympia Drywall Company, and its successors
Debris citation vacated for no employee exposure
Scrap lumber with protruding nails and other debris existed at Olympia Drywall's multi-employer construction site and presented tripping and puncture hazards. OSHA relied on employee statements to argue that Olympia workers entered the affected areas to reach restrooms or a food truck. Judge Robert…
The Pike Company, Inc.
Edge, scaffold, and ground-fault items affirmed
At a prison construction project, Pike employees worked near a 13-foot unguarded edge, and another employee poured concrete from an unguarded outrigger scaffold about 20 feet high without a proper access ladder. Judge Ann Z. Cook rejected infeasibility because the edge work did not require removal…
Lanzo Construction Co., Inc.
Ladder and cave-in items affirmed, repeat classification rejected
Lanzo employees worked in an unprotected 12-foot excavation and used a ladder perched on unstable, sloping soil. The ladder was not missing a rung as first alleged, but its extension-ladder design left nonuniform spacing that created a misstep hazard. Judge Ken S. Welsch affirmed the two ladder…
Nolichuckey Sand Company
Six conveyor citations affirmed
Nolichuckey Sand Company operated a sand and gravel operation where miners used catwalks beside conveyor belts for inspections. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the catwalks were travelways and that the conveyors therefore fell within 30 C.F.R. § 56.14109(a). He rejected the company's arguments…
Eslich Wrecking Company
Lead items affirmed, eye and asbestos items vacated
Eslich performed labor and light demolition during renovation of the Cleveland Public Library, including demolition of walls coated with lead paint. Judge Stephen J. Simko, Jr. affirmed the grouped serious lead items because Eslich conducted no initial exposure assessment and did not provide the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination settlement approved
Consolidation Coal Company faced a discrimination proceeding brought on behalf of Richard E. Glover and Leon Kehrer, along with a civil penalty petition. Judge Gary Melick approved the parties' settlement, which required a $5,000 civil penalty and an agreed posting at the mine. The judge ordered…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination settlement approved
Consolidation Coal Company faced a discrimination proceeding brought on behalf of Kenneth Hannah, Phillip J. Payne, and Floyd Mezo, along with a civil penalty petition. Judge Gary Melick approved a settlement requiring back pay and interest, expungement of references to the incident from personnel…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination claim dismissed
William Kaczmarczyk alleged that Reading Anthracite Company discriminated against him after he reported health and safety problems and applied for haul truck and water truck positions. The Commission agreed with the ALJ that Reading had shown legitimate business reasons for not awarding the haul…
Arapahoe County Weed District
In re Arapahoe County Weed District (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 98-3): restricted-use pesticide penalty affirmed
Arapahoe County Weed District sold restricted-use pesticides to local farmers in Colorado. EPA found that the district sold Tordon 22K to an applicator whose certification had expired, and the presiding officer assessed a $2,400 civil penalty. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the seller's…
Orion Electric, Inc.
Energized-circuit violation affirmed
Two Orion journeyman electricians installed dimmer switches on an energized low-voltage circuit during restaurant renovation work, and one employee died from electrocution. Judge Ken S. Welsch held that the electrical-protection standard contains no low-voltage exception and that experience working…
CRS Emergency Vehicles, Inc.
Saw-guard items affirmed, restart item vacated
CRS manufactured and upfitted security and safety vehicles at a plant on Osage tribal land in Oklahoma. Judge Stephen J. Simko, Jr. held that the Occupational Safety and Health Act applied because CRS was not tribally owned, sold products worldwide, and was engaged in commercial rather than purely…
Harvey Trucking
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Harvey Trucking asked the Commission to reopen a $2,000 penalty assessment after it learned of the final order, saying it had not received the penalty proposals that were sent to its address and returned to the sender. The Commission held that it could reopen an uncontested assessment in…
Sproule Construction Company, Incorporated
Default order vacated and case assigned
Sproule Construction failed to respond to a show-cause order after it mistakenly believed that communications with MSHA had resolved the matter. Judge Paul Merlin found adequate cause for the failure, noting that the operator had appeared without counsel and was unfamiliar with Commission…
Bowen Industries Incorporated
Citation amended and penalty reduced to $188
Bowen Industries agreed to settle a citation issued after an employee used inadequate scaffolding while installing an iron beam at the Ivanhoe Concentrator. Judge Paul Merlin approved the settlement, amended the cited standard from the scaffolding-construction standard to the safe-access standard…
Consolidation Coal Company
Roof-support order modified with $2,000 penalty
Consolidation Coal operated the Robinson Run No. 95 underground coal mine in West Virginia. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that the mine lacked a readily accessible supply of supplementary roof-support materials within four crosscuts of the 12-D working section, in violation of 30 C.F.R. §…
L & T Fabrication & Construction, Incorporated
EAJA fee application denied
L & T Fabrication sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after an ALJ assessed a $20,000 penalty for a serious safety violation, compared with MSHA's proposed $40,000 penalty. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company qualified as a party eligible to seek fees…
Shane Porter, employed by Roaring Fork Aggregates, Inc.
Penalty assessment reopened after counsel's filing mistake
Shane Porter, an employee of Roaring Fork Aggregates, sought to reopen a Mine Act penalty assessment that had become final after he missed the deadline to contest it. His counsel said that an MSHA representative gave an incorrect date for when Porter received the proposed assessment, causing the…
John Martin, employed by Roaring Fork Aggregates, Inc.
Penalty assessment reopened under Rule 60(b)
John Martin asked the Commission to reopen a section 110(c) penalty assessment that had become final after his hearing request was filed late. Martin’s counsel said he relied on an erroneous statement from MSHA about when Martin received the proposed assessment. The Commission found that Martin…
Newmont Gold Company
Appeals dismissed under settlement
The Secretary appealed ALJ decisions that vacated citations issued to Newmont Gold Company and dismissed the related contest and civil penalty proceedings. The parties later reached a settlement under which the Secretary withdrew the appeals, Newmont agreed to the motion, and each party bore its…
Newmont Gold Company
Appeal dismissed under settlement
Newmont Gold Company appealed an ALJ decision that affirmed citations and orders and assessed $1,800 in civil penalties. The parties later reached a settlement under which Newmont withdrew its appeal, the Secretary agreed to the dismissal, and each party bore its own costs and fees. The Commission…
Yannuzzi, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Yannuzzi a serious citation after a May 1998 inspection, and the company received it on June 4, 1998. Its 15-working-day contest period expired on June 25, but its first written response was sent in August and its request for a late notice of contest did not reach the Commission until…
Bear Ridge Mining, Inc.
Roof-control citation vacated after fatal rock fall
Bear Ridge Mining was cited after section foreman Michael Bandy was killed by a roof fall in the No. 6 entry of the mine. The Secretary alleged that Bear Ridge violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.202(a) by removing three wood cribs without providing other roof control and sought a $40,000 civil penalty. The…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Rodney E. Stephens v. Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Rodney E. Stephens after Cyprus Plateau Mining reassigned him from mine examiner to crib crew and later discharged him. Stephens said the company acted because he reported concerns about mine ventilation, rock dusting, and standing water, while 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.