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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Borg-Warner Protective Services Corporation, d/b/a Burns International Security Services
Bloodborne-pathogen items split and reduced
Burns security guards at a manufacturing plant treated minor cuts and burns, transported injured workers, and were expected to provide CPR when needed. The judge found that these duties created occupational exposure under the bloodborne-pathogens standard even though actual blood contact was…
Employers Insurance of Wausau and Group Eight Technology, Inc.
In re Employers Insurance of Wausau and Group Eight Technology, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 95-6): penalty ruling partially vacated and remanded
A 1987 fire destroyed a building owned by Group Eight Technology, Inc. in Wyandotte, Michigan. Seven electrical transformers remained at the site during demolition, including one PCB Transformer whose fluids were later mixed with fluids from other transformers and sent to an oil recycling facility…
United Mine Workers of America on Behalf of William Keith Burgess, Glenn Loggins, and David McAteer
United Mine Workers of America (FMSHRC SE 96-367-D, SE 97-18-D): Consolidated discrimination complaints dismissed
The United Mine Workers of America brought two consolidated discrimination complaints involving alleged disclosures of miner complaint identities and other conduct by MSHA and individual MSHA employees. The judge held that MSHA and its employees are not “persons” subject to suit under section…
Portland Water District
In re Portland Water District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 95-10): permit review denied
Portland Water District sought review of the denial of an evidentiary hearing request concerning total residual chlorine limits in an NPDES permit for its Cape Elizabeth Wastewater Treatment Facility in Maine. Maine's Department of Environmental Protection certified that the permit's monthly…
The Edward R. Hart Co.
Three serious scaffold and training violations affirmed
The Edward R. Hart Co. was an insulation subcontractor working at the Dover Chemical plant in Dover, Ohio. Responding to a complaint about workers on unguarded scaffolds, OSHA inspected and issued a three-item serious citation. OSHA charged that the company failed to train employees to recognize…
Empire Company, Inc.
Marine-terminal coverage affirmed
Empire repaired and rented equipment at a Puerto Rico facility about one-half mile from a municipal wharf. Most of its chassis, container, and finger-lift work served maritime customers, although it did not itself move cargo between vessels and shore. The Commission accepted OSHA's interpretation…
Tri-State Steel Construction, Inc., and National Engineering & Contracting Company
Attorney-fee applications denied
This order resolves a request for legal fees after two consolidated OSHA cases arising from a highway bridge rehabilitation project in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tri-State Steel Construction, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Engineering & Contracting Company (NEC), had prevailed on several citation…
Winn Construction Co., Inc.
Pump-house transport citations affirmed after electrical contact
Winn Construction was moving a steel pump house at the Browns Valley Mine when the load shifted and the boom of the cherry picker contacted an energized 7,200-volt overhead line. A worker touching the pump house suffered electrical burns and was treated in intensive care before returning to work…
Cobre Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Patricia Ann Villines, a Cobre Mining safety office clerk, claimed that the company terminated her because she cooperated with an MSHA investigation. The judge found that her cooperation was not shown to have motivated the termination and that the evidence instead supported the company’s stated…
Qualitech Steel Corporation
In re Qualitech Steel Corporation (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 96-12, 96-15, 96-17, 96-18, and 97-1 through 97-7): petitions withdrawn and files closed
Qualitech Steel Corporation received a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for a mini-mill steel recycling facility in Pittsboro, Indiana. Nine citizens filed petitions challenging the original permit, its amendments, or both, across eleven PSD appeal numbers. Each petitioner withdrew…
Wellmore Coal Corporation
Discrimination finding reversed and remanded
Billy R. McClanahan, a truck driver and later an independent contractor for Wellmore Coal Corporation, complained that the company's requirement to haul at least 24 tons was unsafe for his truck and working conditions. After he was fired for failing to meet the requirement, the ALJ dismissed his…
H M I a.k.a. Heatherly Mining, Incorporated
Penalty proceedings dismissed
HMI, also called Heatherly Mining, asked to dismiss six civil penalty proceedings based on a settlement payment covering violations issued on or before June 30, 1996. The listed cases were not included in the settlement agreement's attached list, but the Secretary later identified them as pending…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Crusher safety violation reversed and remanded
Walker Stone operated an open-pit limestone quarry in Kansas. During efforts to clear rock that had clogged a crusher, a worker reentered the crusher and was caught when the rotor was jogged, suffering fatal injuries. The Commission held that removing the rock to restore the crusher was repair or…
HMI a.k.a. Heatherly Mining, Inc.
Penalty cases dismissed as moot
HMI and P & K Co., Ltd. asked the Commission to accept late answers and dismiss penalty cases in which ALJ default orders had been entered. They said a $75,000 settlement covered the outstanding citations issued through June 30, 1996. The Secretary later advised that the penalties covered by the…
Costain Coal Inc.
Settlement approved with reduced penalties
Costain Coal faced consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving alleged violations of mandatory standards in Parts 70 and 75. The parties reached a comprehensive settlement that reduced the proposed penalties from $43,258 to $32,001. The settlement vacated one citation, changed…
Oscar Renda Contracting, Inc.
Record reopened after interpreter and witness failures
An employee died when a 3,500-pound plate fell while being lowered into a trench, and OSHA issued numerous serious citations with $26,400 in proposed penalties. At the hearing, the inspecting officer did not appear, two key Spanish-speaking witnesses could not communicate effectively without an…
Anderson Excavating and Wrecking Company
Demolition fall violation found willful
Three employees manually demolished a bank vault about 35 feet above the ground without safety belts, nets, or other fall protection. The Commission found Anderson plainly indifferent because it provided only vague warnings not to fall, gave inadequate hazard training, and did not have…
Austin Powder Company
Further review granted
The Commission had previously vacated and remanded an ALJ decision concerning whether a citation should be treated as a section 104(d)(1) order or a section 104(a) citation. On remand, the ALJ removed the unwarrantable-failure finding but kept the penalty unchanged. Austin Powder Company and Bruce…
ASARCO, Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved
ASARCO agreed to pay miner David G. Hopkins $15,000, subject to applicable payroll deductions, to settle his claims after an ALJ found that the company violated the Mine Act by discharging him. The settlement also reduced the civil penalty for that violation from $800 to $500. The Commission…
Envirosafe Services of Ohio, Inc.
In re Envirosafe Services of Ohio, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 96-6): permit matter remanded during settlement discussions
Envirosafe Services of Ohio and EPA Region V asked the EAB to dismiss a permit appeal without prejudice because the parties were discussing settlement. Their joint motion said both that the issues had been resolved and that settlement agreements might still prove unsuccessful. Because the status of…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc.
Discrimination claims partly granted
Mountain Top Trucking drivers alleged that they were discharged or otherwise treated adversely after refusing work they reasonably believed was unsafe, including driving excessive hours or operating unsafe trucks. Judge Jerold Feldman found Walter Jackson's work refusal protected and granted his…
Naporano Iron & Metal Company
Scrap-loading crane cited for no load indicating device and unguarded swing radius, both items affirmed
Naporano ran a scrap metal terminal at Port Newark, New Jersey, where barge-mounted cranes loaded scrap onto vessels and occasionally unloaded steel rails. After an inspection, OSHA cited two serious violations of the longshoring crane standard: no load indicating device on either crane, 29 C.F.R…
Midwest Material Company
Fatal crane-boom violation found unwarrantable
Midwest Material's crew was dismantling a mobile crane boom at a sand and gravel plant when a miner worked under an unsecured section of the boom and removed retaining pins. The boom pivoted and fell, killing miner Thomas Reaska. The Commission held that the violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14211(a) was…
Enlow Fork Mining Company
Accumulation findings partly remanded
Enlow Fork was cited for coal, float coal dust, and oil accumulations and for failing to record hazardous conditions during preshift examinations at an underground coal mine. The Commission vacated and remanded the judge's findings on whether the November accumulation violation was significant and…
Nevada Goldfields, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Kenneth L. Driessen alleged that Nevada Goldfields dismissed him because he raised safety concerns about operating a ball mill and other equipment at the Nixon Fork Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Driessen may have engaged in activity protected by the Mine Act, but the evidence did not show…
Yellowstone Refining Company, Cody Refinery
In re Yellowstone Refining Company, Cody Refinery (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 94-9): appeal dismissed as moot
Yellowstone Refining Company challenged an EPA post-closure permit for its closed refinery near Cody, Wyoming. While the appeal was stayed for settlement discussions, Wyoming received authorization to run its hazardous-waste program and issued Yellowstone a replacement permit. The parties asked the…
Falkirk Mining Company
Welding connection citation affirmed
Falkirk Mining operated a surface coal mine where an electrical connection on a welding machine was not insulated to the same degree as the rest of the wire. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the exposed connection violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.504, which requires electrical connections to be…
Federated Oil & Gas of Traverse City, Michigan
In re Federated Oil & Gas of Traverse City, Michigan (EAB UIC Appeal No. 95-38): permit review denied
James and Alice Valentine challenged EPA Region V's permit authorizing Federated Oil & Gas to operate the Valentine 3-18 SWD Class II injection well in Bear Lake Township, Michigan. They argued that their lease did not allow an injection well, that other operators had contaminated their property…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Contests defaulted after discovery failures
Buck Creek Coal failed repeatedly to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling discovery, and the Secretary's motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company was apparently in bankruptcy but that this did not automatically stay the proceedings or prevent…
Anchor Mining Incorporated
Penalty proceedings partly affirmed
Anchor Mining and two of its supervisory employees faced civil penalty proceedings involving unsafe work around a surface mine ditch and an excavator. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed a $4,500 penalty against Anchor for an unwarrantable-failure violation involving unstable material, and affirmed a…
Austin Powder Company
In re Austin Powder Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 95-9): permit review denied in part and corrective-action issue remanded
Austin Powder Company operated an explosive manufacturing facility near McArthur, Ohio, under a permit covering hazardous-waste management and corrective action at solid waste management units. Austin challenged the permit's flexibility for site-specific investigation workplans, the absence of…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved after remand
Consolidation Coal contested a citation alleging that methane-monitor warning signals on longwall face equipment were not visible to people who could deenergize the equipment. The ALJ initially vacated the citation, but the Commission later held that the standard was violated and remanded the case…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $14,084 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $14,084. The decision explains…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $8,474 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $8,474. The decision states…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $22,252 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default, affirmed the listed citations and orders, and assessed civil penalties totaling $22,252. The decision states…
Yahara Materials Inc.
Settlement agreement disapproved
MSHA proposed reducing penalties against Yahara Materials and foreman James R. Hoppman for a conveyor-access citation involving an approximately 12-foot fall hazard. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the settlement submission did not provide enough facts to justify the proposed reductions, including…
Wimpey Minerals
Discrimination case dismissed after damages agreement
William F. Metz and Wimpey Minerals reached an agreement regarding damages in a discrimination proceeding. Judge Gary Melick ordered Wimpey Minerals to pay total damages, including interest, of $58,158 within 15 days. He then dismissed the case.
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $94,426 penalty
Buck Creek Coal failed to respond to the Secretary's discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been…
Navieras NPR, Inc.
Dismissal reviewed so settlement could be considered
The judge dismissed the case and vacated the citations after the Secretary failed to file a complaint by the final deadline. Before that dismissal became a final order, the Secretary submitted a settlement that the parties had apparently reached before the judge ruled. The agreement withdrew one…
Color Image, Inc.
Ten-minute forklift instruction was inadequate
Color Image used a stand-up forklift in its warehouse and allowed four employees to operate it. An employee who had experience only with a different type of forklift received a ten-minute oral demonstration in Vietnamese, was not tested, and was later seen operating unsafely several times. OSHA…
Kokosing Construction Co., Inc.
Rebar item affirmed, formwork fall item vacated
A Kokosing carpenter fell about 22 feet while dismantling concrete formwork and died near two rows of unguarded reinforcing steel. The Commission found that part of his body could have fallen onto the rebar and that the conspicuous condition, crews in the area, and inadequate inspection…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $38,723 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Empire Energy Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $135,000 penalties per respondent
Empire Energy Inc., War Eagle Construction, and Kennie Compton failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling responses, and a later motion for default. Judge Roy J. Maurer found the respondents in default and affirmed all citations and orders in the captioned dockets. Each respondent…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $179,310 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed orders and citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Austin Powder Company
Citation and individual liability affirmed
At Lynn Sand & Stone Quarry, Austin Powder Company employees worked close to a 55-foot highwall without required safety belts and lines while preparing to dewater a drill hole. Judge Paul Merlin credited the inspectors' testimony and found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.15005. The judge affirmed the…
Standard Lafarge
Citation affirmed and penalties reduced
At Standard Lafarge's Marblehead Quarry, a miner was trapped by falling rock while welding inside a surge bin. Judge David F. Barbour affirmed the citation for violating the requirement to prevent miners from being exposed to entrapment by caving or sliding material. The judge found the violation…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $6,162 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $9,407 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $4,628 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while criminal…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed with $7,344 penalty
Buck Creek Coal, Inc. failed to respond to discovery requests, an order compelling a response, and a later motion for default. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the company in default and affirmed the listed citations and orders. The decision states that the proceedings had previously been stayed while…
Austin Powder Company
ALJ decision vacated and remanded
Austin Powder Company and Bruce Eaton sought review of an ALJ decision that affirmed a citation as issued under section 104(d)(1) of the Mine Act. The record attached to the Secretary's penalty assessment showed that the citation had later been modified to charge a section 104(a) violation and that…
Consolidation Coal Company
Emergency-brake order affirmed with $4,000 penalty
Consolidation Coal Company contested two withdrawal orders at the Loveridge No. 22 Mine. One order involved a settlement for a $1,800 penalty, and the judge accepted that settlement. The other concerned an underground scoop whose emergency parking brakes had substantial gaps and could not function…
New Warwick Mining Company
Coal-dust citations affirmed as significant and substantial
New Warwick Mining Company was cited after an inspection found coal-dust accumulations at five belt transfer stations along an overland conveyor at Warwick Mine. On remand from the Commission, Judge George A. Koutras considered whether the accumulations were reasonably likely to contribute to an…
Christman Quarry
Citation affirmed, penalty reduced to $1
Christman Quarry was cited after a bulldozer operator was fatally injured when the bulldozer moved while unattended. The judge found that the machine had not been left with its controls in park and its parking brake set, violating 30 C.F.R. § 56.14207. Because the precise cause and circumstances…
Cedar Coal Company Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Steve Baker claimed Cedar Coal Company fired him after he stopped operating a loader because its heater and defroster did not work. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Baker stopped work because he was cold, not because he communicated a safety concern, and that his account was not supported by the…
Manalapan Mining Co.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Prabhu Deshetty alleged that Manalapan Mining Company discharged him because he raised safety concerns about mine ventilation fan stoppages, permissible pumps, and a county-owned bridge used to access the mine. Judge Gary Melick found that the complaints were protected activity and that the bridge…
West Suburban Recycling and Energy Center, L.P.
In re West Suburban Recycling and Energy Center, L.P. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 95-1 and 96-1): federal permit decision remanded
West Suburban Recycling and Energy Center, L.P. sought federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration permits for a proposed municipal solid waste facility in Illinois. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency had denied permit applications on state-law grounds, while the Environmental Appeals…
All American Asphalt
ALJ decision vacated and remanded
All American Asphalt operated an asphalt plant, a quarry, and a plant producing rock-based aggregates in California. Employees reported missing guards, ladders, catwalks, decks, handrails, and trip cords, and gave MSHA a videotape of the plant. The Commission vacated the ALJ's decision because it…
Ketchikan Pulp Company
In re Ketchikan Pulp Company (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 95-6): review denied for permit challenges
Ketchikan Pulp Company sought review of the partial denial of an evidentiary hearing request concerning its renewed NPDES permit for a pulp mill in Ketchikan, Alaska. The company challenged the absence of a mixing zone, seasonal biochemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen limits based on a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Work-refusal discrimination ruling remanded
Consolidation Coal Company disciplined three miners after they refused to restore power following a fan stoppage because they were concerned that methane could have accumulated in unexamined escapeways. The Commission held that their safety concerns were initially in good faith and reasonable, and…
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.