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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Southern Minerals, Inc., True Energy Coal Sales, Inc., and Fire Creek, Inc.
Summary-decision motions denied
Southern Minerals, True Energy Coal Sales, and Fire Creek faced contests involving 102 citations and orders arising from a fatal explosion at the Fire Creek No. 1 underground coal mine. The Secretary alleged that Southern Minerals and True Energy were operators jointly and severally liable for the…
Thunder Basin Coal Company
$1,300 penalty assessed
Thunder Basin Coal Company refused to post a form designating Dallas Wolf and Robert Butero as miners' representatives at its Black Thunder Mine. After the company did not abate the citation within the required time, MSHA issued a failure-to-abate order and proposed a total penalty of $26,360…
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (Cambalache Combustion Turbine Project)
In re Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (EAB PSD Appeal No. 95-2): permit review denied
Ciudadanos en Defensa del Ambiente petitioned for review of a PSD permit issued to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for a 248-megawatt combustion-turbine generating station in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. CEDDA raised environmental-justice, meteorological-data, prior-violations, future-expansion…
Robert Lettrick Roofing Co.
Commission approves a settlement after directing the case for review, cutting the roofing citations to a $5,600 package
Robert Lettrick Roofing Company did roofing work in the Albany, New York area. After an OSHA inspection of a steep mansion-roof job in Saratoga, New York in September 1993, the Secretary issued serious, repeat, and other-than-serious citations, and Administrative Law Judge Barbara L…
Hobert Vernon Gentry, employed by Gentry Brothers Trucking Co., Inc.
Individual liability affirmed and $7,500 penalty assessed
Hobert Vernon Gentry personally directed a small coal-hauling contractor that operated at the West Volunteer Mine. The judge found that Gentry knew a truck had defective brakes, failed to record the defects, and kept the truck in service while awaiting brake parts. During a later haul, the truck's…
Leeco, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Leeco operated an underground coal mine, and Frank Scott worked there as a miner and electrician. Scott alleged that he had been required to work underground while the mine fan was off and had been asked to handle energized high-voltage cable and work on guards while belts were running. Leeco…
Consolidation Coal Company and Superior Security, Inc.
Discrimination complaints dismissed
Debora Boyce and Viletta M. Moore worked as part-time, on-call security guards at remote coal mine pump sites. They alleged that after raising health and safety concerns, their work time was reduced and they were assigned to remote locations without communications or sanitary facilities. Judge Gary…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Two electrical citations affirmed
Brown Brothers Sand Company operated a small sand mine at its Junction City Mine. The Secretary alleged that the mine had not completed required continuity and resistance testing and that a portable diesel pump lacked a grounding wire. Judge Jerold Feldman found both violations proved, with minimal…
S&H Mining, Inc.
Roof-control findings vacated and remanded
S&H Mining operated an underground coal mine and was cited for two violations of its approved roof-control plan. The first involved an initial pillar cut wider than the plan allowed. The second involved a continuous miner cutting into a pillar before roof supports were installed. The Commission…
Jim Walters Resources, Inc.
Coal-dust order affirmed and settlements approved
Jim Walters Resources operated two underground coal mines and faced citations involving coal-dust accumulations and other conditions. The judge found that extensive accumulations along about 7,000 feet of a beltline created a reasonable likelihood of fire and serious injury, and that the operator's…
Kerry Coal Company
Imminent-danger order and citations affirmed
Kerry Coal Company operated a surface coal mine where a front-end loader worked beneath an unstable spoil bank and an active overhang. Rocks and other spoil material were falling near the loader, and large cracks showed that the spoil banks were unstable and too steeply sloped. Judge William Fauver…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Refuse-pile violations affirmed
Cyprus Emerald Resources operated Emerald No. 1 Mine, where coal refuse was placed in an unstable pile beside a slurry pond. The pile failed twice, including an incident in which a bulldozer and its operator slid down the pile and the operator had to be helped out with ropes. Judge William Fauver…
Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Dust-citation decisions affirmed, Keystone citations vacated
This consolidated decision concerns thousands of respirable-dust sample citations issued to coal mine operators after MSHA identified abnormal white centers on dust filters. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's common-issues and Keystone decisions, holding that an abnormal white center alone did not…
Western Fuels Utah, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Gary Belveal, a roof bolter and union safety committee chairman at Western Fuels Utah's Deserado Mine, filed Mine Act complaints about the company's accident program, injury reporting, and mine safety conditions. He alleged that the company placed him on temporary total disability instead of…
R B Coal Company, Incorporated
Late hearing request allowed and case reopened
R B Coal Company missed the 30-day deadline to request a hearing on two Mine Act assessments totaling $2,700. The company's engineer explained that the request was misplaced while the small operator was handling many assessments and computerizing its records. Judge Paul Merlin found no prejudice to…
Thomas Hale, employed by Damon Corp.
Relief from final order denied
Thomas Hale, a general manager at Damon's Valley Sand and Gravel Mine, asked the Commission to reopen a default order imposing $1,500 in penalties for five alleged violations of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14107(a). The Commission noted that a federal district court had already entered judgment for the United…
General Cutlery Co., Inc.
Knife maker loses on almost every safety and health citation, including a willful hazard-communication violation
General Cutlery makes bayonets and household knives in Fremont, Ohio. After complaint inspections in May 1994, OSHA issued two sets of citations, later consolidated: safety violations (Docket No. 94-2015) and health violations (Docket No. 94-1933). The company, represented by its president, argued…
Willie Sizemore v. Andalex Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and case dismissed
Willie Sizemore and Andalex Resources asked the judge to approve a settlement in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding involving Island Mine No. 3. Judge William Fauver approved the settlement agreement, canceled the scheduled hearing, and dismissed the proceeding with prejudice. The decision does…
William Kaczmarczyk v. Reading Anthracite Company
Damages and civil penalty assessed
William Kaczmarczyk was transferred from light duty to workers' compensation status after serving as a walkaround representative during an MSHA inspection. An earlier ruling found that the transfer violated Mine Act section 105(c), and this decision determined the resulting damages and civil…
Consolidation Coal Company
Orders vacated and individual penalties dismissed
Consolidation Coal Company and two company agents faced proposed penalties after a December 1992 methane ignition at the Amonate No. 31 Mine injured five miners. The Secretary alleged inadequate bleeder ventilation and inadequate weekly examinations, and alleged that superintendent Robert Wyatt and…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources Corporation
Roof-control order affirmed
Cyprus Cumberland Resources was cited after it failed to install the crib support required by its approved roof control plan in a proposed longwall tailgate entry. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the operator had knowingly stopped following the plan's cribbing requirement for years without seeking…
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction
Scaffold and fall-protection citations mostly upheld, but penalties cut sharply for a four-worker employer
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction, a four-worker builder in Ouray, Colorado, was inspected by OSHA in April 1994 at a jobsite on Main Street. OSHA issued five citation items covering scaffold access, scaffold footing, guardrails, an unguarded second-floor edge, and the lack of a written safety…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles H. Dixon v. Pontiki Coal Corporation
Interlocutory reviews granted
Pontiki Coal Corporation and the Secretary each sought interlocutory review of separate ALJ orders in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding involving Charles H. Dixon. The Commission granted both unopposed petitions, stayed the proceedings before the judge, and set a briefing deadline of December…
Energy West Mining Company
Proceedings dismissed after remand
Energy West Mining Company and the Secretary asked the judge to dismiss a contest and civil penalty proceeding after the cases were remanded by the Commission. The Secretary stated that the safety standard at issue had been superseded by a new standard that resolved the issues in the proceedings…
Montana Sulphur & Chemical Company
Asbestos-waste "housekeeping" citation vacated because the standard sets no bagging deadline
Montana Sulphur & Chemical Company makes hydrogen sulfide and sulphur in Billings, Montana. During an asbestos-removal project on its "railroad" boiler, wet asbestos-containing mastic (about 31% asbestos) was knocked down and piled on the ground, wetted, and barricaded with tape before being bagged…
Precast Services, Inc.
Commission reverses the judge and affirms a fall-protection citation, rejecting the unpreventable-employee-misconduct defense
Precast Services installs precast concrete panels. During a 1993 job in Mentor, Ohio, OSHA saw a journeyman ironworker straddling the top of a 40-foot precast panel with no fall protection, and cited the company for failing to require personal protective equipment. Precast argued it should not be…
Newell Recycling Company, Inc.
All nine lead-exposure citation items vacated after OSHA lost track of its own lab samples for five months
Newell Recycling processes scrap metal in Eagle Pass, Texas. In June 1994 OSHA watched two employees torch-cut refinery piping while wearing dust masks, and took air samples to measure lead exposure. OSHA then let the samples sit: the industrial hygienist did not follow up for five months, the lab…
Rock of Ages Corporation
Explosives violations partly affirmed after fatality
Rock of Ages Corporation faced contest and civil penalty proceedings after quarryman Michael Bassett died when a torch ignited concealed pyrodex blasting material at the Smith Quarry. Judge Jerold Feldman granted the Secretary's motion to vacate four orders, affirmed one citation and three orders…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Keith D. James v. Cordero Mining Company
Discharge complaint dismissed
Keith D. James alleged that Cordero Mining Company discharged him because of safety complaints, reports to MSHA, distribution of miners' rights handbooks, and other protected activity. Judge August F. Cetti found that James engaged in protected activity, but concluded that Cordero discharged him…
Wellmore Coal Incorporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Billy R. McClanahan, a haulage 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. He said the company terminated him after he repeatedly hauled loads below the required weight and objected to…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Reconsideration denied
Jim Walter Resources asked the Commission to reconsider its earlier denial of the company's petition for discretionary review in two civil penalty proceedings. Two commissioners voted to deny reconsideration, while two would have granted it. Because reversing the prior action required a majority of…
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Coal, Inc.
Negligence imputation reversed and remanded
U.S. Coal operated the No. 3-2 Mine. A certified electrician was injured while repairing a continuous mining machine without deenergizing or locking it out. MSHA cited U.S. Coal under standards requiring electrical equipment to be deenergized and disconnecting devices to be locked out and tagged…
Lee Zoldan, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed because not reading OSHA's paperwork is simple negligence, not excusable neglect
Lee Zoldan, Inc. is a residential and commercial plumbing and heating business in Middletown, New York, in operation since 1966. After OSHA issued a citation and proposed penalties (dated January 12, 1995), the company did not file a written notice of contest within the 15 working days the law…
Louisville Scrap Material Co., Inc.
Lead citations split, with direct-exposure items vacated over face-shield sampling but housekeeping and monitoring items upheld
Louisville Scrap Material Co. (LSM) ran a scrap yard near the Port of Tampa, torch-cutting railroad cars and other metal into scrap. Because pre-1978 coatings contain lead, the cutting generated airborne lead, and OSHA cited LSM under the lead standard along with one grinder-guarding item. The…
Perini Corporation
A construction site with workers on it is "occupied," so the exit-marking standard applies
Perini Corporation was building a project at Federal Triangle in Washington, DC, working four below-ground levels that had no natural light, no permanent power, and light measured at just 1 to 2 footcandles. OSHA cited Perini for failing to mark exits where the way out was not immediately visible…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and penalties modified
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a coal feeder being moved with combustible accumulations, incomplete fire-resistant covering, and inadequate grounding. The judge affirmed the citation and order in docket WEVA 95-117, finding a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1003-2 that…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and penalties modified
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a coal feeder being moved with combustible accumulations, incomplete fire-resistant covering, and inadequate grounding. The judge affirmed the citation and order in docket WEVA 95-117, finding a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1003-2 that…
Amax Coal Company
Line curtain violation reduced and roof-plan citation partly vacated
Amax Coal's Wabash Mine was cited after a line curtain was left 55 to 60 feet from a working face even though the ventilation plan required it to be within 40 feet. The judge affirmed the underlying violation but found it non-significant and substantial, assessed a $1,500 penalty, and found the…
Rocky's Trucking
Citations affirmed and $720 penalty assessed
Rocky's Trucking operated a coal truck at a mine. A driver continued operating after the truck's reverse signal alarm was cited and after orders required the violations to be abated and the truck withdrawn. The judge held that the driver's conduct could establish the company's liability and treated…
Secretary of Labor v. Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Deposition barred pending criminal matters
Buck Creek Coal sought to depose an MSHA supervisory special investigator and obtain investigative materials in consolidated proceedings. The judge found that the investigator was heavily involved in related criminal investigations and that allowing the deposition could harm those matters. The…
Spang & Company
In re Spang & Company (EAB EPCRA Appeal Nos. 94-3 and 94-4): penalty assessment remanded
Spang & Company admitted fourteen late-reporting violations under EPCRA and was found responsible for one recordkeeping violation involving xylene records for its Sandy Lake facility. The Presiding Officer assessed a $50,000 penalty and treated Spang's environmental projects as supplemental…
Trend-Line Furniture Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, failure-to-abate citations affirmed because sloppy mail handling is simple negligence, not excusable neglect
Trend-Line Furniture Corporation makes dining room furniture in Bay Shore, New York, with about eight workers in the plant and two clerical employees in the office. OSHA inspected the plant on August 9, 1994 and issued citations. A follow-up inspection on November 8, 1994 found that the earlier…
D & E Coal Company, Inc.
Default decision assesses $35,000 penalty
D & E Coal Company did not respond to orders, a settlement proposal, or a later order to show cause in a civil penalty proceeding. The judge found the company in default and affirmed seven orders. The decision assessed a $35,000 civil penalty and directed payment within 30 days, with dismissal…
Roma Stone Corporation
Attorney-fee application dismissed
Roma Stone Corporation filed an application for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. It later moved to withdraw and dismiss the application, and the Secretary did not object. Judge Paul Merlin granted the motion and dismissed the case.
Leo Journagan Construction Company
Operator ordered to answer penalty petition or show cause
The Secretary of Labor sought a civil penalty against Leo Journagan Construction Company for the Journagan Portable #12MC mine. The operator had not answered the penalty petition, despite an earlier order to show cause. Judge Paul Merlin ordered the operator to file an answer within 30 days or…
R & J Construction Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed because internal office mishandling of the mail is not excusable neglect
OSHA's Manhattan area office issued a citation to R & J Construction Corporation by certified mail on January 14, 1994, and the company received it on January 19. The law gave R & J 15 working days, to February 9, 1994, to file a written notice of contest. R & J did nothing until it received a…
R.H. Belam Company
Late notice of contest dismissed, citations affirmed because misreading the contest deadline is not excusable neglect
OSHA issued citations and proposed penalties to R.H. Belam Company by certified mail on June 14, 1994, and the company received them on June 15, 1994. The law gave Belam 15 working days, to July 7, 1994, to file a written notice of contest. Belam did not contest in time. Its general manager and…
Larc Coal, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $7,500
Larc Coal operated Hatchett Mill. The Secretary of Labor petitioned for assessment of a civil penalty, and the parties proposed reducing the penalty from $12,500 to $7,500. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement acceptable under the criteria in section 110(i) of the Mine Act. He approved the…
Outboard Marine Corp.
In re Outboard Marine Corp. (EAB CERCLA Penalty Appeal No. 95-1): appeal dismissed as untimely
EPA Region V appealed an initial decision that found Outboard Marine Corp. liable and assessed a $16,961 civil penalty. The Regional Hearing Clerk served the initial decision through interoffice mail on August 3, 1995, but the Board received the appeal on August 24, one day beyond the applicable…
Holt Cargo Systems, Inc.
Forklift-horn and carbon-monoxide-testing citations affirmed, but rider and hard-hat items thrown out
Holt Cargo Systems is a stevedoring company that was unloading pallets of plywood from the vessel Pan Queen at a marine terminal in Camden, New Jersey. After an OSHA inspection, the Secretary of Labor issued three serious citation items and two repeated items, proposing $9,000 for the serious items…
Empire Steel, Inc.
Commission dismisses the case after the parties jointly withdraw the direction for review
This case arose from a fatal fall at a school re-roofing project in Spring, Texas, where a roofing worker fell about 27 feet through a roof opening to the cafeteria floor below. OSHA cited Empire Steel, Inc., but at the hearing the evidence showed the workers were actually leased and supervised by…
Old Ben Coal Company
Unsupported-roof citation vacated and agent petitions dismissed
MSHA alleged that Old Ben Coal employees worked or traveled under unsupported roof after a roof fall at Mine No. 20, and that company agents knowingly authorized the conduct. MSHA also alleged that Dallas Runyon knowingly authorized two coal-accumulation violations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Handrail and guarding citations partly affirmed, one citation vacated
Brown Brothers Sand operated the Junction City Mine, where MSHA cited an elevated barge platform without handrails and four allegedly unguarded moving parts. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the missing handrails created a significant and substantial violation because a worker could slip into the…
Mountain Top Trucking Company and Mayes Trucking Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered in two cases
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Lonnie Bowling, Walter Jackson, and David Fagan after alleged protected safety complaints and discrimination. Judge Jerold Feldman found Bowling's and Fagan's complaints were not frivolous and ordered Mayes Trucking, as Mountain Top's successor, to…
Elk Run Coal Company
Discrimination case dismissed after complainant declined to proceed
Blaine A. Kelley filed a discrimination proceeding against Elk Run Coal Company. Kelley later wrote that he had decided to drop the case, but the reason was unclear. Judge Gary Melick issued a show-cause order giving Kelley a final opportunity to proceed, and Kelley did not respond. The judge…
Vulcan Materials Co.
Settlement approved, two dockets vacated and one penalty increased
These consolidated cases involved civil-penalty petitions against Vulcan Materials and two employees. Judge Gary Melick approved a settlement under section 110(i) of the Mine Act. The settlement vacated the charges in dockets SE 95-244-M and SE 95-245-M and increased the penalty in docket SE…
Vulcan Materials Co.
Contest withdrawn and case dismissed
Vulcan Materials contested a citation issued at the Rockingham Quarry. At hearing, Vulcan requested permission to withdraw its contest. Judge Gary Melick granted the request under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11 and dismissed the case.
DIC Americas, Inc.
In re DIC Americas, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 94-2): $85,000 penalty affirmed
DIC Americas, Inc. failed to file Form U reports for five chemical substances when required under EPA's TSCA reporting rules. The Environmental Appeals Board affirmed the total $85,000 civil penalty, or $17,000 per violation. The Board held that the Presiding Officer properly used EPA penalty…
Rocco Curcio v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Safety-committee absence protected
Rocco Curcio worked as a miner and elected safety-committee member at Keystone Coal Mining Corporation’s underground Emilie No. 1 Mine. After management did not correct dusty conditions on a haulage road, Curcio and another committee member went to union headquarters to discuss the problem, which…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Samuel Knotts v. Tanglewood Energy, Inc., Fern Cove, Inc., Randy Burke, and Randall Key
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Samuel Knotts v. Tanglewood Energy, Inc., et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 94-357-D): Discrimination damages awarded
Samuel Knotts had previously been found to have been discharged in violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act. In this final damages decision, Judge Roy J. Maurer held the respondents jointly and severally liable for $17,120 in net back pay, $508 in costs, and $1,762.80 in interest, and assessed a…
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.