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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Consolidation Coal Company
Accident-evidence citation vacated
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after company officials entered a damaged vehicle at the Blacksville No. 1 Mine during an investigation of a fatal methane explosion. The Secretary alleged that the officials altered evidence in violation of section 103(j) of the Mine Act. Judge Gary Melick…
Consolidation Coal Company
Methane-testing order vacated
Consolidation Coal Company was charged with failing to conduct methane tests during cleaning work in a raw coal silo at the Blacksville No. 1 Mine. The Secretary sought a $12,000 penalty under 30 C.F.R. § 77.201-1. Judge Gary Melick found that the evidence raised suspicions but did not prove that…
J B D Mining Company, Inc.
Three citations affirmed
J B D Mining Company received three citations at its Harlan No. 1 Mine. The first involved travel under unsupported roof, the second involved smoking materials found underground, and the third involved missing site-specific training for a contractor employee. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found all three…
Harry Fiocchi & Associates, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed
Harry Fiocchi & Associates is a New Jersey general construction, design-build, and project-management firm with about 10 employees. OSHA mailed the company a citation by certified mail on March 31, 1995, and it was received on April 4, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file…
Ikerd-Bandy Co., d/b/a Cockrell's Fork Mining
Discrimination case dismissed
Ronnie Gay alleged that Ikerd-Bandy refused to hire him because he had reported safety problems while working for the predecessor operator, Whitaker Coal Company. Judge Gary Melick excused Gay's late filing because he did not learn of his rights under the Mine Act until shortly before filing. The…
R & R Pipeline, Inc.
Trench spoil-pile and repeat cave-in items affirmed, inspection item vacated, penalties cut
R & R Pipeline is a Colorado utilities contractor. During a December 1994 inspection of a trenching job in Littleton, an OSHA compliance officer found a worker in a trench about 10 to 11 feet deep with no shoring in place, a spoil pile of excavated dirt piled less than two feet from the trench…
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company
Settlement approved
The parties asked Judge Gary Melick to approve a settlement in two civil-penalty proceedings. The settlement removed the Significant and Substantial designation from Citation No. 4061992 and reduced a proposed penalty from $228 to $51. The judge found the settlement acceptable under the Mine Act's…
Narrows Branch Coal Inc.
Default decision issued
Narrows Branch Coal did not comply with an order requiring it either to show good cause why it should not be held in default or to file the original joint settlement motion. Judge Avram Weisberger entered default and ordered the company to pay the total civil penalty sought in the four proceedings…
Terrazas, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Irineo G. Beltran, a laborer working for Terrazas at the Chino copper mine, alleged that he was discharged after objecting to the safety of a Gehl sweeper. Judge George A. Koutras found that MSHA showed the discrimination complaint was not frivolous, while leaving the ultimate merits for a later…
Western Massachusetts Blasting Corporation
Explosives-truck violations modified
Western Massachusetts Blasting Corporation was cited after explosives were loaded in a pickup with exposed steel surfaces and a steel shovel in the cargo bed, and after the parked truck's brake was not set and its wheels were not chocked. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed both violations but removed the…
Berwind Natural Resources, Corp., Kentucky Berwind Land Company, Kyber Coal Company, Jesse Branch Coal Company
Operator status divided among mine-owner and contractor entities
The consolidated cases arose from an explosion at the Elmo No. 5 Mine that killed one miner and involved approximately 225 citations and orders. Judge David F. Barbour held that Berwind Natural Resources, Kentucky Berwind, and Jesse Branch were not operators under the Mine Act, while Kyber was an…
Miniature Nut and Screw Corp.
Hearing-conservation lapses are serious violations, but machine-guarding items fail for lack of employee exposure
Miniature Nut and Screw Corporation is a small family-owned maker of die-cast zinc fasteners in Newington, Connecticut, with about ten employees. After a 1993 OSHA inspection, the company was cited for occupational-noise (hearing conservation) violations and numerous machine-guarding violations…
American Airlines, Inc.
FAA ground-operations manual does not preempt OSHA guardrail and hazard-communication citations after a fatal fall
American Airlines ran an aircraft maintenance and repair facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After a worker fell from the third story of a roughly 27-foot mobile "tail stand" work platform through unguarded floor openings to the ground and died, OSHA inspected and issued citations across two dockets…
Newmont Gold Company
Discriminatory discharge found, relief reserved
Lance A. Paul alleged that Newmont Gold Company discharged him after he used a radio during a mine fire to express concern for a coworker who had not been evacuated. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the discharge was discriminatorily motivated and violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The…
Humbert Sanitary Service, Inc.
Three trenching items affirmed serious, ladder item vacated, $2,700
Humbert Sanitary Service is a small Ohio construction contractor that installs and cleans septic tanks and lays sewer pipe. While Humbert was tapping a main sewer line on Cleveland Avenue in North Canton, an OSHA compliance officer responded to a complaint and found a laborer working in a…
Dawson Welltech, L.C. Rig #387
Commission approves an oil-rig settlement, with one stair-guardrail item tied to a pending Fifth Circuit case
Dawson Welltech operated a workover oil rig (Rig #387) at a well site near Lamar, Texas. After a 1993 OSHA inspection, the company was cited for guardrail, sanitation, bloodborne-pathogen, hazard-communication, and ladder items across two citations. Administrative Law Judge Louis G. LaVecchia…
Talasila, Inc.
Commission remands after the judge barred the employer's representative without letting it find another
Talasila, Inc. was building a sewer pump station for the City of Houston when OSHA inspected the site after a city engineer complained. OSHA issued several citations, including willful violations of its excavation standards, across three dockets. Talasila was represented at the hearing by M.R…
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates
Settlement approved and hearing canceled
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates and the Secretary submitted a settlement covering two consolidated civil-penalty proceedings. Judge August F. Cetti approved reduced penalties totaling $9,000 and vacated one penalty tied to Citation No. 4139747. The order dismissed the cases after payment and canceled…
Midwest Piping & Controls, Inc.
Fall-protection item affirmed serious $400, load-limit posting item vacated
Midwest Piping & Controls is a small family-owned pipe-fitting company that fabricates and installs piping mainly for a nearby Mead Paper Corporation mill. Its shop sits inside Mead's fenced perimeter, on land Midwest owns under a long- term lease. During a complaint inspection aimed at Mead and…
A & B Tops
Three serious items downgraded to "other," one grounding item affirmed serious, $300
A & B Tops is a very small Ohio sole proprietorship, with one or two employees, that makes and installs kitchen countertops. After an employee complaint, OSHA got an inspection warrant, entered the Akron plant, and issued four serious citations: no exit sign on the assembly-room doors, an unguarded…
Taylor Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.
Late notice of contest not excused, citations affirmed by default
Taylor Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc., a New Jersey roofing contractor, received OSHA citations and proposed penalties by certified mail on June 19, 1995. Under the OSH Act, an employer has 15 working days to file a notice of contest, which meant Taylor's deadline was July 11, 1995. The company's…
Dandee Creations, Ltd.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed
Dandee Creations is a New York company that received an OSHA citation issued December 15, 1994 and delivered by certified mail on January 5, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file a notice of contest, so Dandee's deadline was January 27, 1995. On January 30, 1995 the…
Anchor Hocking Glass Company, Inc.
Forklift aisle items vacated, horn/slow-down item affirmed serious, penalty cut to $2,100
Anchor Hocking makes consumer glassware at a plant in Lancaster, Ohio. After a reported fatality, an OSHA compliance officer inspected the plant's large pack-and- ship department, where forklifts move up to 4,000 pallets a day through a wide main aisle, and issued a citation with three serious…
Doss Fork Coal Company
Violations remanded and negligence affirmed
The Commission reviewed four enforcement matters arising from conditions at Doss Fork’s Seminole Mine. It sent two orders back for further analysis of whether the operator’s conduct was an unwarrantable failure, and it vacated the dismissal of a third order after holding that the cited…
Energy Fuels Coal, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and two vacated
Energy Fuels Coal was assessed civil penalties in two consolidated dockets involving conveyor guarding and preshift examinations at the Southfield Mine. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed two non-significant-and-substantial citations with $50 penalties each, for a total of $100. He vacated one conveyor…
W.A. Morris Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Ramon S. Franco, a truck driver working at a dam that served the Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine, said he was discharged after refusing to drive a truck he believed was unsafe. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the employer’s motions to dismiss, excused Franco’s late discrimination filing, and found that…
Rothermel Coal Company
Two violations sustained and one citation dismissed
Rothermel Coal Company operated the No. 11 Vein Slope, an underground coal mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found violations involving an improperly restrained electrical cable and the late submission of a ventilation map. He assessed $50 for the cable violation and $20 for the late map submission, for…
Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Andy Howard, Jr., a haul truck driver for Yogo, Inc., reported defective brakes on a truck and later alleged retaliation after cooperating with an MSHA investigation. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary’s temporary-reinstatement case was not frivolous and ordered Yogo to reinstate…
Narrows Branch Coal Inc.
$3,000 penalty assessed after inability-to-pay claim failed
Narrows Branch Coal operated Mine No. 1 and admitted the cited violation, its gravity, and its negligence. The company argued that the penalty should be reduced because it might be close to going out of business. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the company had not provided reliable evidence of…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Remand for explanation of eyewitness testimony
The Commission reviewed a civil penalty case involving seven alleged violations at L & J Energy's mine. An earlier ALJ decision sustained six violations, but the D.C. Circuit remanded after finding that the judge had not adequately explained why expert testimony was credited over eyewitness…
RNS Services, Inc. and Mase Transportation Co., Inc.
Petition for discretionary review withdrawn
RNS Services and Mase Transportation moved to withdraw their petition for discretionary review. The Secretary of Labor did not oppose the motion. The Commission granted the motion and dismissed the petition.
APG Lime Corp.
Roof-fall citation vacated
APG Lime operated the underground Kimballton limestone mine in Virginia. A roof slab fell and fatally injured two miners operating a drill, and MSHA cited APG for failing to use ground support. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the calcite seam and other conditions observed before the fall did not…
Alan Fox, Gary W. Bennett, Charles Burggraf, and Eldon Ray Evans, employed by Amax Coal Co.
Alan Fox, Gary W. Bennett, Charles Burggraf, and Eldon Ray Evans (FMSHRC LAKE 95-299, et al.): Individual penalty proceedings dismissed
The Secretary sought individual civil penalties against four Amax Coal managers after MSHA issued an order alleging a combustible-material accumulation near a conveyor belt at the Wabash Mine. Judge Gary Melick held that the delay-based dismissal argument did not justify ending the section 110(c)…
U.S. Coal, Incorporated
Remand reduces two penalties to $2,000 each
U.S. Coal's electrician worked on an energized 480-volt circuit without de-energizing it or locking out and tagging the disconnecting devices. He suffered an electrical shock and burns, and later experienced lasting work-related impairments described in the decision. The Commission held that the…
Maple Meadow Mining Company
Settlement reduces two penalties to $1,100
Maple Meadow Mining Company agreed to settle a civil penalty case involving one section 104(d)(1) citation and one section 104(d)(1) order. The settlement changed Citation No. 3964584 to a section 104(a) citation, reduced its penalty from $600 to $200, and changed the negligence finding from high…
Tilcon Connecticut, Inc.
Conveyor citation modified and penalty set at $400
Tilcon Connecticut operated a surface rock quarry and crushing plant where an employee was injured when a conveyor started without the required audible warning. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company violated the conveyor-warning standard, but rejected the allegation of unwarrantable failure…
Stillwater Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Chris Schultz alleged that Stillwater Mining Company violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act by terminating him after he reported being attacked by another employee. Judge Avram Weisberger found that hitting the other miner, even in response to being hit first, was not protected activity under the…
Gouverneur Talc Company
Fire-rescue order dismissed and electrical order affirmed
Gouverneur Talc Company operated an underground talc mine where a welder overheated, sparked, and produced smoke. Judge Avram Weisberger found that miners had evacuated from the affected area, but the Secretary did not prove that the employees who returned underground were participating in rescue…
Harold G. Moody, Employed by Grand River Quarry, Inc.
One individual case dismissed and one penalty assessed
The Secretary alleged that Harold G. Moody and Robert G. Flint, supervisors at Grand River Quarry, knowingly violated the Mine Act by allowing a haul-road berm to remain below the required height. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary did not prove Moody knew or had reason to know of the…
Steele Branch Mining
Grader safety violation and penalty affirmed
Steele Branch Mining operated a surface coal mine where a road grader rolled backward after its engine stalled, fatally injuring the operator. MSHA cited the company for failing to maintain the grader in safe operating condition because its brake accumulator provided only one service-brake…
Steele Branch Mining
Grader safety violation and penalty affirmed
Steele Branch Mining operated a surface coal mine where a road grader rolled backward after its engine stalled, fatally injuring the operator. MSHA cited the company for failing to maintain the grader in safe operating condition because its brake accumulator provided only one service-brake…
L&J Energy Company, Inc.
Partial reconsideration granted and review directed
The Secretary of Labor asked the Commission to reconsider its denial of L&J Energy Company’s petition for discretionary review. The Commission granted reconsideration in part and directed review only on issue IV from L&J’s petition. It stayed briefing until a further order and denied the request…
Amax Coal West, Inc.
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Orville E. Moore asked to withdraw his Mine Act discrimination complaint against Amax Coal West because he had a parallel case pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and intended to pursue his remedies there. Judge Roy J. Maurer granted permission to withdraw the complaint at the…
Southern Minerals, Inc., True Energy Coal Sales, Inc., and Fire Creek, Inc.
Review petition denied as premature
The Secretary of Labor asked the Commission to review an administrative law judge's partial decision dismissing True Energy Coal Sales from the proceedings. The judge had concluded that True Energy was not an operator under section 3(d) of the Mine Act. The Commission held that the dismissal was…
S & H Mining, Inc.
Roof-control penalty increased on remand
S & H Mining operated Mine No. 7 and was cited for two violations of its approved roof-control plan under 30 C.F.R. § 75.220. Judge Jerold Feldman reinstated the significant-and-substantial designation for the order involving a 20-foot pillar cut that exceeded the revised plan's 15-foot limit…
Contractors Crane Service, Inc.
Commission reinstates a dismissed notice of contest and remands
Contractors Crane Service, Inc., a Vermont company representing itself, contested OSHA citations but did not file an answer to the Secretary's complaint. Chief Administrative Law Judge Irving Sommer issued an order to show cause, and when the company did not respond, he dismissed its notice of…
Trico Technologies Corp.
Failure-to-abate notice restored and remanded, while recordkeeping violations stay other-than-serious rather than willful
Trico Technologies ran a manufacturing plant in Brownsville, Texas, with a press room where workers handled parts coming off power presses. In 1988 OSHA cited the company for a personal protective equipment violation (29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a)) after press-room employees developed skin rashes from…
Somerset Mining Company
Roof-control citation vacated
Somerset Mining operated the Sanborn Creek underground coal mine in Colorado and contested a citation alleging that its roof-control plan did not comply with 30 C.F.R. § 75.220(a)(1). The dispute concerned whether Somerset could use double splitting of certain pillars during retreat mining in the B…
Stillwater Mining Company
Chute-hangup citation partly affirmed
Stillwater Mining operated an underground platinum mine in Montana where a miner was injured when a chute gate closed while he was near the chute mouth. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary proved a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 57.9310(b) because the miner used an improper method to place…
Bruce Young, d/b/a BNA Trucking and Yogo, Inc.
Discrimination case settled with reinstatement
William DeLong brought a Mine Act discrimination case arising from his alleged February 23, 1995 discharge by BNA Trucking and Yogo, Inc. The parties agreed to reinstate him as a truck driver as of October 10, 1995, recognize his seniority from his first employment in August 1994, and pay him…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane orders affirmed and modified
Jim Walter Resources operated coal mines with recurring methane problems and contested several orders and citations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that placing curtains to divert methane away from a monitor violated the methane-monitor and methane-control standards, and that both violations were…
Davy Songer, Inc.
The top of a shipping crate workers stood on to rig out machinery was a "walking/working surface" requiring fall protection
Davy Songer, Inc. was a construction contractor with about 290 employees at a worksite in Canton, Ohio. OSHA issued a six-item serious citation, and the company and the Secretary settled all but one item before the hearing. The remaining item (item 4) was decided on the written record without a…
E & E Contractors, Inc.
Employer defaults by not showing for trial, so the citations are affirmed by default judgment
E & E Contractors, Inc., a Syracuse, New York company, contested an OSHA case in which the Secretary of Labor had alleged 46 items across three citations (serious, repeat, and other-than-serious) with a total proposed penalty of $39,600. After the company's non-attorney representative withdrew, the…
The Velotta Company
A general contractor must keep hazard-communication records for the lead paints its subcontractors use near its own workers
The Velotta Company was the general contractor on a bridge rehabilitation project, the Norwood Lateral, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Subcontractors did the lead-paint blasting and repainting inside containments, but Velotta's carpenters and laborers sometimes had to work right next to those areas, and on…
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
Surgical-mask TB citation vacated because the hospital lacked fair notice that only NIOSH respirators would do
OSHA inspected Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City in June 1992, during a period when a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak had struck hospitals in the New York and New Jersey area. The hospital workers' union, Local 1199, took part as the authorized employee representative. The parties settled…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Proceedings held pending appeal
This master docket involved more than 3,700 contests concerning alleged alteration of respirable-dust samples. After the Secretary petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review of the Commission's November 29, 1995 decision, Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul…
General Road Trucking Corp.
Default order vacated and remanded
General Road Trucking failed to answer the Secretary's proposed penalty assessment and an ALJ's show-cause order, so the judge entered a default order assessing a $1,200 penalty. The Commission treated the company's later letter as a timely petition for discretionary review, even though it did not…
Knife River Mining Company
Temporary economic reinstatement approved
Knife River Mining Company employed Arthur R. Olmstead at the Savage Mine. The Secretary of Labor, on Olmstead's behalf, sought his temporary reinstatement in a discrimination proceeding under section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The parties reached an agreement for temporary economic reinstatement, and…
Western Mobile New Mexico, Inc.
Blasting citation vacated
Western Mobile operated the Sedillo Hill surface limestone mine in New Mexico. MSHA cited the company after fly rock from a blast seriously injured an insurance agent and alleged that people were not protected by a suitable blasting shelter. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the Secretary did not…
Ames Construction Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Oliver J. Boutet filed a discrimination complaint against Ames Construction Company under section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The Commission requested additional information, but Boutet did not respond to the request or later orders to show cause. The orders were returned after attempted certified-mail…
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.