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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Knife River Coal Mining Co.
Discriminatory discharge found
Arthur R. Olmstead worked for Knife River Coal Mining Co. at its Savage Mine and was known for raising safety concerns. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company discharged Olmstead for repeatedly making safety complaints, rather than for the stated reason of dishonesty about his medical status…
Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Donald S. Wallace alleged that Barrick Goldstrike Mines fired him in retaliation for safety-related communications and efforts to establish a miners' representative. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that Wallace's radio instruction to skip a scheduled lunch break was not protected activity and that the…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources
One withdrawal order affirmed and one vacated
Cyprus Cumberland Resources challenged two withdrawal orders issued after an MSHA inspector found extensive coal and coal-dust accumulations and alleged that a pre-shift examination failed to record hazardous conditions. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed the order concerning the accumulations under 30…
Northern Illinois Service Co.
Two mine safety citations affirmed
Northern Illinois Service operated a limestone quarry near Rockford, Illinois. MSHA cited the company for an uncovered energized electrical outlet box and uncovered valves on stored compressed-gas cylinders, under 30 C.F.R. §§ 56.12030 and 56.16006. The judge rejected the company’s arguments that…
Blue Bayou Sand and Gravel
Remand penalty set at $1,200
The Commission remanded Blue Bayou Sand and Gravel’s case after reversing the ALJ’s earlier conclusions that the violation was not significant and substantial and did not present an imminent danger. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the violation’s gravity was very high under the Commission’s…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Remand settlement approved
The Commission remanded this case for reconsideration of penalties and related expenses in proceedings involving alleged violations of Mine Act sections 103(f) and 105(c). The parties then asked the judge to approve a settlement. Judge Avram Weisberger approved it, requiring Jim Walter Resources to…
Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved
Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc. resolved a discrimination proceeding involving Andy Howard, Jr.’s alleged discharge. The settlement required compensation of $4,350 for alleged mental and emotional distress, expungement of references to the separation and complaint, limits on information provided to…
United States Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Trolley wire safeguard violation affirmed S&S
United States Steel Mining operated an underground coal mine where a trolley wire safeguard was intended to prevent equipment from losing power because of excessive kinks, bends, twists, or a wide track-to-wire gauge. The Commission held that the violation was significant and substantial under the…
Mechanicsville Concrete, Inc. t/a Materials Delivery
S&S designation reversed, penalty affirmed
Mechanicsville Concrete operated a sand and gravel pit in Virginia. MSHA cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14100(b) after an inspector found a front-end loader without a windshield wiper arm and blade. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and assessed a $200 penalty…
Campo Landfill Project, Campo Band Indian Reservation
In re Campo Landfill Project, Campo Band Indian Reservation (EAB NSR Appeal No. 95-1): phased-offset review denied and first-phase remand
Backcountry Against Dumps and Ed and Donna Tisdale challenged an EPA permit for a four-phase municipal solid waste landfill on the Campo Band Indian Reservation. They argued that the permit should require all emissions offsets before the first phase and that EPA's alternatives analysis was…
Higman Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $1,245 penalty
Higman Sand and Gravel operated a sand and gravel mine and Screener Plant #1 in South Dakota. After a July 1995 inspection, Judge Arthur J. Amchan affirmed some guarding, handrail, records, seat-belt, horn, and service-brake violations, while vacating other citations and a section 104(b) order. He…
Blue Bayou Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Defective brakes were S&S and created an imminent danger, with penalty reassessment remanded
Blue Bayou Sand and Gravel operated an open-pit sand and gravel mine where an inspector found a loaded haulage truck with service and parking brakes that did not work. The ALJ found a violation of the brake standard, but concluded that it was not significant and substantial and that the defective…
Linda S. Sparks v. Old Ben Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Linda S. Sparks alleged that Old Ben Coal placed her in a chronic and excessive absenteeism program in retaliation for safety complaints about the steps leading to a gob scraper truck and other workplace conditions. Judge Avram Weisberger found that her safety complaints were protected activity and…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Combustible-accumulation order affirmed
Jim Walter Resources operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Alabama. An MSHA inspector found extensive accumulations of loose coal, coal dust, and float coal dust along a 3,500-foot belt entry, including rollers submerged in dust and hot rollers and rubbing points that could ignite combustible…
Northwest Erectors, Inc.
Metal decking citation vacated
Northwest Erectors installed metal roof decking at a construction site in Pennsylvania. The company settled a fall-protection citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.105(a) for a $1,500 penalty. The remaining citation alleged that employees walked on decking that was not secured against movement under 29…
De Atley Company, Incorporated
Default vacated and settlement approved
De Atley Company faced a civil penalty proceeding involving one violation at Plant No. 4. After the operator explained that a settlement had been reached before a default order was issued, Judge Paul Merlin vacated the February 7, 1996 default. He approved the parties’ settlement, reducing the…
Leo Journagan Construction Company, Inc. and James M. Ray
Lockout violation affirmed, hopper citation vacated
MSHA inspected Leo Journagan Construction’s portable crusher in Missouri after employees entered the crusher to clear jammed rocks while power remained available. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the operator violated the lockout standard, but the violation was not significant and substantial…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discovery motion granted in part
Consolidation Coal sought discovery in civil penalty proceedings arising from the Blacksville No. 1 Mine explosion and asked for documents from MSHA’s investigation and internal review. Judge Gary Melick rejected the Secretary’s position that some interview memoranda were protected work product…
Roger Christensen and Jesse Martinez, employed by Georgia-Pacific Corporation
Late penalty petitions accepted
The Secretary filed section 110(c) civil penalty petitions against Roger Christensen and Jesse Martinez, employees of Georgia-Pacific at Gypsum Quarry No. 6. The petitions were filed 10 and 16 days late after a partial government shutdown delayed the Solicitor’s office. Chief Administrative Law…
Hudson Wood Recycling, Inc.
Remand for employer-status jurisdiction inquiry
An administrative law judge dismissed Hudson Wood Recycling's notice of contest after the company failed to comply with prehearing requirements and did not answer a show-cause order. Hudson then asserted that it had never had employees, raising whether it was an employer covered by the Occupational…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Discrimination finding affirmed and penalty reduced
Jim Walter Resources operated an underground coal mine where miner James Johnson refused to work in an area with missing roof bolts, removed cribs, a roof crack, and other conditions he believed were unsafe. The ALJ found that Johnson's refusal to install roof support was protected activity and…
City of Ames, Iowa
In re City of Ames, Iowa (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 94-6): compliance-schedule remand
The City of Ames appealed the denial of an evidentiary hearing concerning renewal of its NPDES permit for a wastewater treatment plant. It sought a delayed compliance schedule for ammonia nitrogen and carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand limits, arguing that it could not meet the new limits…
United Mine Workers of America, Local 1058, District 31 v. Consolidation Coal Company
Compensation ordered under stipulated liability
United Mine Workers of America, Local 1058, sought compensation for miners at Consolidation Coal’s Humphrey No. 7 Mine under section 111 of the Mine Act. After the judge entered a liability decision on April 3, 1996, the parties stipulated to the compensation and interest due. Judge William Fauver…
Southern Minerals, Inc., True Energy Coal Sales, Inc., and Fire Creek, Inc.
Motions on penalty evidence and scheduling denied
Southern Minerals, True Energy Coal Sales, and Fire Creek faced contests involving 102 citations and orders and proposed penalties exceeding half a million dollars at the Fire Creek No. 1 Mine. Judge David F. Barbour denied a motion seeking to limit evidence about the Secretary's penalty criteria…
Energy West Mining Company
Penalty reduced after remand
Energy West Mining Company conceded a respirable-dust violation at its Cottonwood Mine after samples averaged 2.2 milligrams per cubic meter, above the 2.0 milligram limit in 30 C.F.R. § 70.100(a). The Commission had affirmed the failure-to-abate order but vacated the original $3,000 penalty…
Citadel Corporation
Excavation and training citations vacated
Citadel Corporation was the general contractor for construction of two apartment buildings on the Georgia Tech campus. OSHA alleged that Citadel failed to train employees about excavation hazards, lacked a competent person to inspect excavations, and willfully failed to protect employees from…
North Florida Shipyards, Inc.
Aerial-lift citations vacated
Two North Florida Shipyards employees used an aerial lift to move steel plates onto a barge, overloaded the basket, and did not tie off. The lift tilted and then righted itself, throwing one employee from the basket; he died from his injuries later that day. OSHA issued five serious citation items…
Superior Electric Company
Repeated guardrail violation affirmed
Superior Electric employees used an unguarded catwalk about 10 feet above the floor while completing electrical work in a renovated warehouse. An employee fell while stepping from the catwalk onto a ladder and was injured. The Commission reversed the judge's ruling that Superior lacked knowledge…
General Chemical Corporation
Dismissal reopened and amended
General Chemical Corporation contested nine citations involving alleged inadequate stoppings and faced a separate civil-penalty proceeding for an alleged failure to report an accident. After the ALJ dismissed the proceedings, General Chemical asked the Commission to clarify whether Citation No…
General Chemical Corporation
Amended dismissal order
General Chemical Corporation asked the Commission to amend an earlier dismissal order, and the Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission amended the December 12, 1995 dismissal order to clarify that Citation No. 4338810 was included in the dismissal. The order resolved the requested…
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply, Incorporated
Settlement approved for $1,950
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply faced consolidated civil-penalty proceedings involving alleged safety violations at its Scott River and Montague plants. After earlier default proceedings were reopened and remanded, the parties proposed a settlement covering the remaining citations. Judge August F…
Kiewit Atkinson Kenny
Mixed ruling on tunnel electrical hazards
Kiewit Atkinson Kenny was the general contractor for a tunnel construction project on Deer Island in Massachusetts. The judge held that Kiewit could be responsible for hazards created by its electrical subcontractor because Kiewit supervised the worksite and could obtain abatement. She affirmed…
Lehigh Portland Cement Company
Settlement approved for $3,500
Lehigh Portland Cement Company received two citations after two miners became ill near a kiln area where oil torches were being used and sulfur dioxide and oxygen readings were taken. One citation alleged inadequate surveys for dust, gas, mist, and fumes, and the other alleged that emergency…
P. Gioioso & Sons, Inc.
Trench safety violations affirmed
P. Gioioso & Sons was installing water lines in Winthrop, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspectors saw a foreman and another employee inside an unprotected trench. A suspended pipe passed over the employees, and their access ladder extended only 12 inches above street level. The judge affirmed serious…
Louis Sinisgalli, d/b/a Metro Wrecking of Rochester, Inc., et al.
Willful cave-in violation affirmed
Workers were sent to remove pumps from a deep, water-filled excavation at a trailer park owned through one of Louis Sinisgalli's corporations. After the workers reported crumbling walls and unsafe conditions, Sinisgalli directed them to return and complete the work before he would pay them. A…
Jim Walter Resources
Coal-dust and belt-condition violations affirmed, settlements approved
MSHA alleged that Jim Walter Resources allowed extensive coal dust to accumulate along the East B belt and in a starter box, and operated an improperly aligned belt with missing or damaged rollers and belt stands. The judge found both litigated violations, under 30 C.F.R. §§ 75.400 and 75.1725(a)…
Peabody Coal Company
Ventilation-plan provision affirmed as suitable for deep-cut mining
Peabody Coal Company challenged a citation alleging that its Martwick Mine operated without an approved ventilation plan. The dispute concerned a deep-cut provision requiring additional line-curtain placement and airflow during roof bolting. The Commission held that the Secretary proved the prior…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination case settlement approved
This remand order addressed damages for William Kaczmarczyk's discrimination case against Reading Anthracite Company. The parties stipulated that $4,225.92 represented lost overtime and additional workers' compensation payments, with $1,630 attributed to lost overtime and $2,595.92 to workers'…
Aggregate Products, Inc.
Screening plant under MSHA jurisdiction
MSHA cited Aggregate Products, Inc. at a screening plant that processed crushed sand and gravel for the company's asphalt operation. The judge found that the screening plant was part of the milling process because it sized material for use in asphalt, so MSHA had jurisdiction even though the…
The Timken Company
Confined-space training violation affirmed but cut from willful to serious, penalty reduced to $3,000
The Timken Company makes tapered roller bearings and employs about 1,000 workers at its Canton, Ohio bearing plant. After an OSHA inspection, Timken was cited for confined-space violations in a heat-treat department where two vertical pit furnace areas were designated permit-required confined…
Karl & Associates
Demolition-debris violations affirmed serious after asbestos worker's fall through a collapsed grate, $1,250
Karl & Associates is an industrial environmental services firm in the Delaware Valley. In September 1995 it was removing asbestos from a building at the former Publicker distillery in Philadelphia ahead of demolition. A grate on the sixth floor collapsed, and an employee, Norman Williams, fell two…
MRC Technologies, Inc.
Commission lets stand an ALJ penalty cut for a financially strapped employer
MRC Technologies repaired stone-crushing equipment tied to road construction in the Niagara Falls, New York area. After a 1993 inspection, OSHA cited the company across two dockets for numerous serious and nonserious violations plus one willful crane-safety violation, and proposed $35,250 in…
Sanders Lead Company
Commission approves a partial settlement of lead-standard citations
Sanders Lead Company is an employer subject to OSHA's lead standard, 29 C.F.R. 1910.1025. OSHA issued citations in February 1987 covering employee notification of corrective action, training, and respirator-choice requirements under that standard. The case had a long history: the Commission issued…
Newmont Gold Company
Discrimination penalty settlement approved
The judge had previously found that Newmont Gold Company's discharge of Lance A. Paul violated the Mine Act's discrimination provision. The Secretary proposed a $9,000 civil penalty, and Newmont did not contest it. The judge approved the settlement, conditioned dismissal on timely payment of the…
Peabody Coal Company
Respiratory-dust penalties reduced on remand
The Commission remanded three respirable-dust violations for penalty reassessment after rejecting unwarrantable-failure and high-negligence findings. On remand, the judge found ordinary negligence, affirmed the violations as section 104(a) violations, and reduced the penalty to $1,500 for each…
Beck Materials Company
Conveyor violations affirmed, guarding negligence modified
MSHA cited Beck Materials Company after plant foreman Doug Laird was seriously injured while adjusting a moving conveyor belt. The judge found violations for failing to deenergize and lock out the conveyor and for failing to provide a safe means of access, and found both violations significant and…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Permissibility citation modified and order vacated
FMC Wyoming operated the underground FMC Trona Mine, where MSHA cited nonpermissible proximity switches at the top of a hoist shaft under 30 C.F.R. § 57.22305. The judge found that the switches were not maintained in permissible condition, but the methane readings near them were below one percent…
AMAX Coal Company
Amended decision issued
This amended release corrected a page in an earlier decision involving AMAX Coal Company's LAKE 96-17 proceeding. The release reconfirmed an approved settlement reducing one order's penalty from $2,500 to $2,000 and reproduced the decision's discussion of a citation alleging wet and muddy…
AMAX Coal Company
Wet haulageway violation affirmed
MSHA cited AMAX Coal Company after inspectors found standing water and mud in a mine haulageway, with water up to 24 inches deep and a tractor stuck in the mud. The judge found that the roadway conditions affected equipment control and that the violation was significant and substantial because…
Consolidated Concepts, Inc., Camden Development, Inc., Noconi Construction Corporation
Most citations vacated, one pump-jack scaffold item affirmed serious, $1,500
OSHA inspected a three-story apartment complex under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas, and issued serious citations to three companies at the site: Consolidated Concepts (CCI), Camden Development (the general contractor), and Noconi Construction. All three contested, the cases were…
Linde Enterprises, Inc.
Trenching cave-in items affirmed serious, seat-belt item vacated, $1,800
Linde Enterprises is a Pennsylvania excavating contractor that was installing utility lines in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. Acting on an anonymous complaint, an OSHA compliance officer inspected the trench worksite and issued one serious citation with four items. Linde first argued the inspection was…
A.M. Welles, Inc.
Guarding citations and abatement orders affirmed
A.M. Welles operated the Red Pioneer Portable Crusher, where MSHA cited inadequate guards on a conveyor tail pulley and a generator's alternator and V-belt drive. The judge found that both conditions had not been timely abated and affirmed the citations and section 104(b) withdrawal orders. One…
Aero Energy, Incorporated
Discrimination proceeding dismissed
Major Tony Thompson alleged that Aero Energy dismissed or sidelined him after he reported methane concerns and spoke with MSHA inspectors. The judge credited the operator's evidence that Thompson's actions were motivated by performance and conduct concerns rather than protected Mine Act activity…
F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co., Inc.
Commission declines interlocutory review and reassigns a rejected-settlement case
F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. does line-clearance tree trimming. After a June 1995 job in Old Lyme, Connecticut, OSHA issued a serious citation for failing to keep employees the minimum distance from energized parts and an other-than-serious citation for a missing face shield at a wood chipper…
Twentymile Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Ross S. Stewart alleged that Twentymile Coal Company terminated him in retaliation for reporting alcohol concerns, questioning the safety of shuttle-car wheel rims, and testifying in another Mine Act case. The judge found those activities were protected, but concluded that the discharge was…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources Corp.
Haulage safeguard order modified
MSHA alleged that Cyprus Cumberland Resources violated a haulage safeguard at the Cumberland Mine when a vehicle entered a signal block without confirming that the block was clear. The judge found that a communication failure violated the safeguard, but the evidence did not establish that the…
Sloan Steel Erectors and Equipment Rental, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed by operation of law
Sloan Steel Erectors and Equipment Rental received an OSHA citation and proposed penalty by certified mail on September 26, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file a written notice of contest, which set Sloan's deadline at October 18, 1995. The parties held an informal…
National Engineering & Contracting Company
Willful crane-overturn items vacated, seat-belt and ladder items affirmed serious, $2,500
National Engineering & Contracting was the general contractor on an Ohio Department of Transportation soil-erosion project along a ravine in Lakewood, Ohio. A 28-ton Grove crane overturned into the ravine on August 19, 1994, injuring the operator, which prompted an OSHA inspection and two…
Harbert-Yeargin, Inc.
Seven electrical and scaffold items affirmed serious, four vacated, $4,500
Harbert-Yeargin was the general contractor building a cogeneration power plant in Fort Myers, Florida, that would turn municipal solid waste into steam and electricity for Lee County. While inspecting the site over another contractor in June 1994, an OSHA compliance officer also cited…
Faith Coal Co.
Late brief accepted and dismissal denied
Faith Coal failed to file its opening brief after the Commission granted discretionary review. After receiving a show-cause order, the company explained that it was a pro se operator and did not know that a written designation was required. The Commission excused the late response, accepted Faith's…
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.