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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John McCarty, d/b/a Intertribal Trade
Diving citations vacated for lack of employment relationship
Intertribal Trade was a fish-buying business that helped members of the Makah tribe obtain equipment and training for commercial sea-urchin diving. OSHA investigated after a diver died while working from a vessel owned by John McCarty. Applying common-law agency factors, the judge found that…
A & K Construction Co., Inc.
Unprotected trench draws an affirmed serious cave-in citation
A & K Construction Co., Inc. was installing a water system in Island Lake, Illinois. On May 27, 1997, an OSHA compliance officer saw an A & K employee working as the bottom man in an open trench about 7.5 feet deep with no sloping, shoring, or trench box. OSHA cited a serious violation of the…
Micron Construction, Inc.
Controlling contractor cleared of a subcontractor's fall violations for lack of knowledge
Micron Construction, Inc. was the construction manager on a Meridian, Idaho project. A January 1997 OSHA inspection caught employees of its steel subcontractor, Hansen & Rice, in three fall-protection lapses: one worker tied his lanyard to another worker's retractable lifeline about 40 feet up, one…
Empire Iron Mining Partnership
Mixed contest and penalty rulings
Empire Iron Mining Partnership contested orders and citations at its Empire Mine, and the Secretary also sought civil penalties. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved settlements for several matters, affirmed some orders and citations, vacated other citations, and modified one order by deleting its…
Omni Source Corp.
Two contested items vacated after a fatal shredder accident, rest resolved by settlement
Omni Source Corp. runs a metals reclamation yard in Toledo, Ohio, where it operates a large Texas Shredder that shreds automobiles. During routine maintenance on March 19, 1996, the roughly 5,600-pound movable section of the machine's safety cage came off its rails and fell into the mill, injuring…
General Motors Corporation, CPC-Pontiac Fiero Plant
In re General Motors Corporation, CPC-Pontiac Fiero Plant (EAB CWA Appeal No. 96-5): liability and $62,500 penalty affirmed
General Motors Corporation operated the Pontiac Fiero plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and held a state-issued NPDES permit for stormwater discharges from an outfall. EPA Region V charged the company with 92 violations between May 1992 and August 1993 because reported discharges exceeded the permit…
Macy's East, Inc.; Abraham & Straus, Inc.; Stern's Department Stores, Inc.
Twenty-nine exit-aisle instances rejected
OSHA cited three department-store companies for 32 instances in which merchandise or display tables allegedly obstructed exit aisles. The judge had previously rejected the Secretary's position that the cited standard required 60-inch or 44-inch aisle clearance. Because OSHA did not calculate…
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, National Zinc Site
In re Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, National Zinc Site (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 96-2): reimbursement petition denied
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company sought reimbursement for about $6.27 million in costs it said it incurred while complying with a CERCLA unilateral administrative order. The order required removal of lead- and cadmium-contaminated soil from about 1,200 residences near the former National Zinc Company…
Action Cleaning Corporation
Unplanked bilge openings on a Navy ship draw an affirmed serious fall citation
Action Cleaning Corporation did shipboard painting-prep work aboard the USS Vandergrift, cleaning the bilge area after deck plates were removed. A February 1997 OSHA inspection found employees walking on the exposed structural grid to reach ladders, with openings between the members and no planking…
Laurel Run Mining Company
Roof-control settlement approved
Laurel Run Mining Company and the Secretary of Labor settled contest and civil-penalty proceedings arising from a fatal roof fall at the Holden 20-DB Mine. The settlement reduced negligence findings and penalties for several roof-control citations and changed some enforcement orders to section…
Newmont Gold Company
Civil penalty proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor sought civil penalties for four citations that had already been vacated and dismissed in an earlier consolidated contest proceeding involving Newmont Gold Company. The judge denied the Secretary's motion to stay the penalty case and denied the penalty petition because the…
Williams Natural Gas Company
Mine Act jurisdiction affirmed
Williams Natural Gas operated an interstate pipeline with meter buildings on mine property and supplied natural gas used by two mines. The Commission held that Williams was an independent contractor performing services at a mine, making it an operator subject to Mine Act jurisdiction. It rejected…
Montana Refining Company
In re Montana Refining Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 95-8): appeal dismissed with prejudice
Montana Refining Company asked the EAB to dismiss its petition challenging an August 14, 1995 permit. Montana said that EPA and Montana had issued a replacement joint permit effective December 2, 1997, and that the new permit resolved the issues behind the petition. EPA did not object to dismissal…
Parsons Company, Inc.
Two guarding violations reduced from willful to serious
Parsons Company, Inc. used a metal shear with a finger guard that could move out of alignment and a press brake with no point-of-operation guard. An employee reached beneath the shear guard after scrap slipped and lost the tips of six fingers when he accidentally activated the machine. The judge…
Leeco, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement granted
Jerry Michael Caudill worked for Leeco, Inc. as a maintenance foreman and was designated as a miners' representative. The Secretary alleged that Leeco threatened, harassed, demoted, suspended, and discharged Caudill because of that protected role. Leeco denied the allegations and said Caudill was…
Arrow Crushed Stone, Inc.
Citations split and penalty reduced
Arrow Crushed Stone operated the Blum Quarry, a limestone quarry in Texas. The Secretary sought penalties for eight alleged violations involving electrical controls, drill stability, mobile-equipment safety, seat belts, and protective footwear. The judge affirmed three citations, vacated one, and…
Matthew J. Matics
Settlement approved and case dismissed
Matthew J. Matics alleged that Coalfield Services, Inc. unlawfully laid him off and sought reinstatement and back pay under the Mine Act's discrimination provision. At the hearing, the parties agreed that Coalfield Services would pay Matics $4,000 and that he would withdraw the complaint. Judge…
Basin Resources, Incorporated
Consolidated penalties assessed
Basin Resources contested civil penalties arising from 112 alleged violations at the New Elk Preparation Plant and Golden Eagle Mine. The judge denied the Secretary's motion to add Entech, Inc. and Montana Power Company as respondents, then resolved the consolidated citations and orders under the…
Harlan Cumberland Coal
Remand penalties assessed
Harlan Cumberland Coal was found to have violated Mine Act respirable-dust sampling requirements in five consolidated dockets. The Commission had affirmed the violations and remanded for findings on penalty factors including gravity, negligence, prior violations, size, and good-faith abatement. On…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources Corporation
Safeguard violation reversed
Cyprus Cumberland Resources operated an underground coal mine with a track haulage system controlled by block signal lights. After an inspector issued a safeguard requiring equipment operators to use and clear the lights and communicate when operating in the same block, a later incident led to an…
Lion Mining Company
Unwarrantable roof-control violation affirmed
Lion Mining Company was cited after a continuous miner cut a notch without the roadway posts required by its approved roof-control plan at the Grove No. 1 underground coal mine. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable failure, based in part on…
Lion Mining Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding affirmed
Lion Mining Company was cited after a continuous miner cut a notch without roadway posts required by its approved roof control plan. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable failure, considering the presence of supervisors, the mine's history of…
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc.
In re Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 97-11, 97-12): respondents' appeal dismissed as untimely
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. filed an appeal from an ALJ initial decision after the deadline set by the EPA's rules. The Board held that the respondents' appeal was due by October 24, 1997, but was not received until November 18, 1997, and dismissed it as…
Stillwater Mining Company
Citation affirmed with negligence modified
Stillwater Mining Company was cited for failing to provide MSHA with an accident investigation report concerning the Kenneth Goode fatality in the form required by 30 C.F.R. § 50.11(b). The judge granted summary decision on the violation, finding that documents previously provided during litigation…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane violations and unwarrantable failure affirmed
Jim Walter Resources operated an underground coal mine where line curtains were used to route methane away from a tailgate methane monitor. The Commission affirmed violations for failing to maintain the monitor in proper operating condition and failing to take required measures after methane…
Ash Grove Cement Company
In re Ash Grove Cement Company (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 96-4 and 96-5): review denied in part and permit issues remanded
Ash Grove Cement Company operated a Portland cement plant in Chanute, Kansas, that used hazardous waste as fuel and received a federal RCRA hazardous-waste-combustion permit. Ash Grove and a coalition of petitioners challenged different parts of the permit, including the Region's indirect-exposure…
Independence Coal Company, Inc.
Partial summary decision denied
Independence Coal Company contested a civil penalty proceeding involving a berm or guard condition on an elevated roadway at the Twilight-Winifrede Mine. The Secretary asked the Judge to treat an earlier unchallenged imminent-danger order as conclusive proof that the related citation involved a…
Glenco Construction Services, Inc.
Steel erector held to general fall-protection rules, three items affirmed
Glenco Construction Services, Inc. was a steel-erection subcontractor at a Bloomsburg University library project in Pennsylvania. During a November 1996 inspection, OSHA found that cables at the tops of access ladders forced workers to step over them, that a stairwell opening had slack guard cables…
Sea-Jet Trucking Corp.
Five failure-to-abate items affirmed at a New Jersey warehouse, $101,200 in penalties
Sea-Jet Trucking Corp. ran an import-export warehouse in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where most workers were Spanish-speaking. After a 1994 inspection, OSHA cited the company for numerous violations, which it agreed to abate by April 1995 in a signed settlement. When OSHA did not receive an abatement…
Bailey's Limestone Quarry
Settlement approval denied pending support
Bailey's Limestone Quarry faced two alleged violations after a laborer was fatally injured at the quarry. One citation concerned an unblocked raised loader bucket, and the other concerned late reporting of the accident to MSHA. The parties proposed reducing the combined penalties from $22,500 to…
S & J Haas Construction, Inc.
Repeat roofing fall-protection item affirmed, training item vacated
S & J Haas Construction, Inc. is a small family-owned residential contractor that was building a home in O'Fallon, Illinois. An OSHA compliance officer driving by saw three workers offloading shingles on the roof without fall protection and, staying on the public street, photographed the scene and…
Fabricated Metal Products, Inc.
Commission requires reasonably predictable machine exposure
Fabricated Metal Products used automated presses with unguarded points of operation and horizontal camshafts. The Secretary argued that employees could contact the moving parts if they slipped or fell near the machines. The Commission held that exposure must be reasonably predictable through…
Tracy Bakery Production, Inc.
Commission restores and approves settlement
The Secretary asked the Commission to review a withdrawal filed after the area office and Tracy Bakery Production, Inc. had already settled the case. The Regional Solicitor's Office had been unaware of that settlement when it filed the withdrawal. Tracy did not oppose the request. The Commission…
Innovative Laminating Corp.
Commission corrects wrong-case settlement filing
The Secretary issued Innovative Laminating Corp. a failure-to-abate citation and later filed an unsigned settlement followed by a notice of withdrawal. A signed settlement for a different employer, Innovative Plastics, Inc., was then mistakenly filed under this docket number and approved by an…
American Sterilizer Company
Commission vacates training item and affirms remaining violations
An American Sterilizer Company technician died from carbon monoxide exposure while cleaning medical sterilization equipment with a glass-bead blasting machine. Contrary to company rules, he connected his supplied-air respirator to the gasoline compressor powering the blaster instead of a separate…
Bickford, Inc.
In re Bickford, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 95-7): appeal withdrawn and dismissed
EPA Region V moved to withdraw its appeal because it determined that continuing the appeal was no longer in the Agency's best interest in light of the EAB's decision in In re Lazarus, Inc. The Board found good cause, granted the motion, and dismissed the appeal. The October 18, 1995 Initial…
Faith Coal Company
Methane-monitor violation found on remand
Faith Coal Company’s consolidated proceedings returned to the Judge after the Commission reinstated a citation and directed a decision under the methane-monitor standard. The Judge found that a scoop loader’s methane monitor had been bypassed and was not maintained in permissible and proper…
Bob Bak Construction
Safety orders affirmed with $1,840 penalty
Bob Bak Construction operated a sand and gravel crusher in South Dakota. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the operator failed to guard two moving pulleys, allowed a front-end loader operator to work without a seat belt, and stored an oxygen cylinder in a truck containing oil and grease. The Judge…
Trine Construction Corp.
Repeat unprotected-excavation citation affirmed at a water main project
Trine Construction Corp. was the contractor on a 3-mile water main project for the City of Wheeling, Illinois. During a January 1997 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer found an excavation 8 to 9 feet deep with essentially vertical walls and no cave-in protection. Witnesses said a Trine employee…
Continental Roof Systems, Inc.
Commission affirms serious classification for scaffold violations
Continental Roof Systems repaired the roof and chimneys of the Franklin D. Roosevelt home for the National Park Service. The judge affirmed 16 violations but reduced two scaffold-guardrail items from willful to serious, assessing $32,100 in total penalties. The Secretary sought review only of the…
Newmont Gold Company
Mercury citations modified with $1,800 penalty
Newmont Gold operated a gold mine where elemental mercury was generated during carbon-handling operations. The Judge found violations involving food and beverages in areas exposed to mercury vapor and mercury-contaminated equipment that lacked warnings or barricades. The Judge held that the mercury…
Windsor Coal Company
Coal-accumulation orders modified
Windsor Coal Company faced two orders involving weekend examination records and extensive coal dust and spillage along a 6,000-foot conveyor belt. The parties settled the examination-record violation, reducing its penalty from $1,000 to $500, and the Judge approved that settlement. For the…
Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc.
Contest dismissed after company stopped responding
OSHA cited Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc. for an unguarded roof deck and a portable ladder that did not extend three feet above its landing. After filing a notice of contest, the company reported that it had dissolved and then stopped responding. It did not provide a current address or telephone…
Energy Trucking, Inc.
Training and parking violations affirmed
Energy Trucking hauled uranium ore to the White Mesa Mill with about 15 drivers at the time of the cited conduct. The Judge found that the company had not provided the required training for newly employed experienced miners and that an unattended dumper tractor was left on a grade without its…
Palmer Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Palmer Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 97-5): permit modification review declined
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority asked the EAB to review EPA Region II's denial of a request to modify the NPDES permit for the Palmer Wastewater Treatment Plant. After considering the appeal and the Region's response, the Board declined review. The Board explained that the appeal would…
Windsor Coal Company
Coal-dust citation affirmed with $4,000 penalty
Windsor Coal operated the Windsor Mine, where MSHA found extensive accumulations of loose coal and coal dust along the No. 9 conveyor belt. Judge William Fauver found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.400 and concluded that the condition was significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable…
Tireman's Tire Shop, Inc.
Unguarded repair pit and open breaker panels affirmed as serious
Tireman's Tire Shop, Inc. ran an auto tire and repair shop in New York. After an employee complaint, OSHA inspected in December 1996 and, while finding none of the complained-of conditions, cited two hazards in plain view. The first was a 40-foot-long, 5.5-foot-deep repair pit that was unguarded…
Williams & Sons Erectors, LLC
Fall protection and training violations affirmed
Williams & Sons Erectors performed steel erection at a three-story construction site in New York. OSHA observed one ironworker welding on a second-level beam and another sitting on a roof-level column without fall protection. The judge credited the compliance officer's testimony that the employees…
A.D. Willis Company, Inc.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for failure of proof
A.D. Willis Company, Inc. was doing roofing work on an HEB store in Midland, Texas. An OSHA compliance officer arriving around 9:15 a.m. saw and videotaped two Willis employees working at the edge of the roughly 30-foot-high roof with no visible fall protection. He did not go onto the roof until…
Phelps Dodge Morenci, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed after remand
Clyde W. Perry worked as a truck driver at Phelps Dodge Morenci's copper mine. He alleged that the company discharged him because he complained that truck driving caused foot pain and created a safety risk. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that Perry engaged in protected activity but did not prove…
Costain Coal Incorporated
Respiratory-dust penalties and settlements resolved
Costain Coal operated the Baker Mine and Smith Underground No. 1. The proceedings involved excessive respirable-dust samples from mechanized mining units and a designated area, along with citations resolved through settlements. Judge Jerold Feldman found the dust violations significant and…
Union Tank Car Company
Commission rejects unexplained PPE payment interpretation
Union Tank Car Company required employees at its railcar repair facility to buy their own safety shoes and welding gloves while subsidizing metatarsal guards. OSHA cited the company on the theory that the word “provide” in the general PPE standard required employers to pay for the equipment. The…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Withdrawal order modified after remand
Jim Walter Resources was cited after MSHA found combustible trash accumulations in active and inactive areas of its No. 7 Mine. On remand from the D.C. Circuit and the Commission, Judge Gary Melick considered whether non-violative accumulations in the inactive area could support an…
Prospect Waterproofing Company
Roof-edge citation vacated for employee misconduct
OSHA cited Prospect Waterproofing Company after employees were observed near the edge of a multi-story roof without the required warning system. The judge found that the Secretary established an initial case but that the employer proved unpreventable employee misconduct. Prospect had an established…
Triton Coal Company
Tire citation vacated
Triton Coal operated the Buckskin surface coal mine. MSHA cited the company after finding a damaged rear tire on a 190-ton haulage truck and alleged that the condition violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.1606(c). Judge David F. Barbour found that the tire's skiving, tread separation, exposed belts, and other…
Newmont Gold Company
Guarding citations vacated
Newmont Gold contested five citations and five related withdrawal orders at its Genesis Mine. The citations alleged that moving engine parts on five haul trucks lacked required guards, while the withdrawal orders were later vacated by the Secretary. Judge August F. Cetti dismissed the five order…
Rock of Ages Corporation
Late oral-argument participation denied
Rock of Ages asked the Commission to let David Gomo participate in oral argument and to accept his late request to participate. The Commission denied the motions because the participating commissioners split evenly, and the relief required a majority vote. Two commissioners concluded that Gomo was…
Jerry Bennett Masonry Contractor, Inc.
Scaffold and chemical-safety violations affirmed
Three Jerry Bennett Masonry employees fell 30 to 35 feet when the outriggers supporting a suspended scaffold slipped from beneath their counterweights. The judge found that the person assigned to erect the scaffold lacked the training and knowledge required of a competent person. Required tiebacks…
Yukon No. 1 Mining Claim
18 citations affirmed with an $872 penalty
Yukon No. 1 Mining Claim, a small mine with four people involved in the business, withdrew its contest to 18 citations, leaving the penalties as the only issue. The parties stipulated that the violations involved moderate negligence, no prior inspection or violation history, and a range of low…
Peabody Coal Company
Late penalty contest reopened
Peabody Coal timely contested the underlying violation but did not separately contest the proposed penalty within the required 30-day period. The company explained that poor coordination between counsel and mine personnel caused the six-day late filing. The Commission found that Peabody intended to…
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.