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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Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System
In re Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 95-6): permit review denied
Three public-interest organizations challenged EPA Region IX's approval of a Class 2 modification to the U.S. Army's permit for the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System. The modification removed a five-year operating restriction so the facility could continue operating while its permit…
Little Sandy Coal Company Incorporated
Dust and combustible-material citations resolved
Little Sandy Coal Company was cited at its Little Sandy and Brimar surface coal mines for combustible materials around a light plant, combustible materials on equipment, and dust that reduced haul-road visibility. Judge David F. Barbour found a violation involving oil and diesel fuel around a light…
Peabody Coal Company
Rock-dust citations split
Peabody Coal was cited at its Martwick and Camp #11 underground mines for inadequate rock dusting. Judge Gary Melick found that Citation No. 3861813 was duplicative of Citation No. 3861812 because it covered the same area and time, so he vacated the lesser-included citation. He affirmed Citation…
Jocanso, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citations affirmed because a staffed office mishandling the mail is simple negligence, not excusable neglect
OSHA issued Jocanso, Inc. two citations and a proposed penalty on October 13, 1994, and the company received them on October 28, 1994. The law gave Jocanso 15 working days, to November 22, 1994, to file a written notice of contest. Instead the company did nothing until its attorney sent OSHA a…
Pak Nation Construction Co., Inc.
Citations affirmed after the company's only defense, that it was not the workers' employer, was found not credible
OSHA cited Pak Nation Construction Co., Inc. on September 15, 1993 for serious and repeat violations of construction safety and health standards found during an inspection of a building restoration in the Bronx, New York, and proposed penalties totaling $10,400. At the hearing Pak Nation stipulated…
Well-Tech, Inc.
Removed platform guardrail and missing site records produced $2,850 in penalties
Well-Tech, Inc. was a well-servicing contractor replugging and sampling wells at a chemical plant in Barberton, Ohio. Employees removed an eight-foot section of guardrail from a 16-foot-high drilling platform and placed caution tape across the opening; within about 15 minutes, an employee fell…
Coal Preparation Services, Inc.
Default dismissal vacated and remanded
Coal Preparation Services failed to appear at a rescheduled civil-penalty hearing after its president said he went to the hearing site on the wrong date. The ALJ dismissed the case by default and ordered payment of a $162 civil penalty. The Commission majority treated the company’s letter as a…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Marty P. Boden v. Lion Coal Company, Cougar Coal Company, Randy Burke, and Randall Key
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Marty P. Boden v. Lion Coal Company, et al. (FMSHRC WEST 95-308-D): Temporary reinstatement ordered
Marty P. Boden was a belt foreman at Lion Coal Company’s Swanson Mine who reported unsafe beltline, escapeway, dust, and rock-dusting conditions to MSHA. He was discharged later the same day that an MSHA inspection began, and the Secretary sought his temporary reinstatement. Judge August F. Cetti…
Conakay Resources, Inc.
$26,814 penalty affirmed
Conakay Resources did not contest the violations in three consolidated civil-penalty dockets, but argued that its financial condition justified reducing the penalties. Judge Avram Weisberger found the company’s financial evidence insufficient to establish that it could not continue in business or…
James Lee Hancock, employed by Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Company
Motion to dismiss denied and penalty filing accepted
James Lee Hancock, an employee of Pittsburgh and Midway Coal Company at the Cimmarron Mine, asked the judge to dismiss a personal civil-penalty case because the Secretary had taken too long to file the penalty petition. Judge Paul Merlin accepted the Secretary’s explanation for the filing delays…
Sandy Jones Construction
Settlement approved for $1,500
Sandy Jones Construction faced a proposed $4,000 civil penalty for a mine safety violation at the Sedillo Hill operation. Judge George A. Koutras approved a settlement reducing the penalty to $1,500 after the Secretary explained that the cited standard was subject to differing interpretations and…
Mashantucket Sand & Gravel
Commission holds OSH Act inapplicable to reservation-only tribal enterprise
Mashantucket Sand & Gravel was a business wholly owned and managed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe that worked only on the Tribe's Connecticut reservation. OSHA issued three serious citation items with $2,000 in proposed penalties and two other-than-serious items without penalties. The parties…
Armstrong Steel Erectors, Inc.
Commission affirms four fall and impalement violations on bridge project
Armstrong Steel Erectors, Inc. was widening and rehabilitating an Interstate 70 bridge in Ohio. The Commission affirmed four serious violations involving unguarded planks used as runways between girders, unguarded painters' picks used as scaffolds, unguarded concrete pier tops used as work…
Stewart Kessen
Settlement approved for $2,291.80
Stewart Kessen Crushing faced eight proposed civil penalties totaling $3,274 for conditions cited at its operation. Judge August F. Cetti approved the parties’ settlement after finding it consistent with the Mine Act’s penalty criteria. The approved penalties totaled $2,291.80, payable within 30…
W-P Coal Company
Appeal withdrawn and proceeding dismissed
W-P Coal Company asked to withdraw its appeal after reaching a settlement with the Secretary in related proceedings. The Commission noted that an administrative law judge had approved that settlement and dismissed the related cases. It granted the motion, vacated its direction for review, and…
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree, employed by J&E Coal Company Incorporated
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree (FMSHRC VA 95-17 and VA 95-18): One violation established and settlements approved
Gary Wayne Crabtree and Danny Keith Crabtree were employed by J&E Coal Company at Mine No. 1. The Secretary alleged that both men knowingly authorized violations involving coal and coal dust accumulations and inadequate rock dusting. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved Danny Keith Crabtree’s settlement…
Mobile River Terminal Co., Inc.
Gangway citation vacated because its foot overlapped the apron
Mobile River Terminal Co., Inc. operated a marine terminal in Mobile Bay, Alabama. OSHA cited the company under the rule requiring a railed walkway when a ship's gangway foot is more than one foot from the edge of the apron. The compliance officer testified that the closest edge of the gangway…
Calvin L. Sisson
Employee abatement-date contest dismissed after all deadlines passed
Calvin L. Sisson, an employee of Pipeline Development Co., contested the reasonableness of the abatement dates in two OSHA citations issued to his employer. His filings also sought a new investigation, additional violations, and review of the settlement between OSHA and Pipeline. Administrative Law…
Arcadian Corporation
Commission rejects 87 employee-based general duty items and remands for separate-hazard review
Arcadian Corporation manufactured fertilizer at a Louisiana plant where an after-hours urea-reactor explosion destroyed the facility and injured three employees and four other people. OSHA issued 87 willful general duty clause items, one for each employee exposed to the conditions that led to the…
The Hartford Roofing Co., Inc.
Commission combines six roof exposures into one repeat violation and assesses $35,000
The Hartford Roofing Co., Inc. had six employees performing built-up roofing work near an inadequately protected edge of a 39-foot-high department-store roof. The company used neither warning lines nor a motion-stopping safety system, and its safety monitor was inadequate for the large roof and…
Kenneth F. Cole v. U. S. Steel Mining Company
Refiled discrimination complaint dismissed as untimely
Kenneth F. Cole filed a discrimination complaint against U. S. Steel Mining Company concerning an alleged 1992 workplace incident at the Cumberland Mine. MSHA had rejected his original complaint in March 1992 and notified him that he could file his own Commission complaint within 30 days, but he…
J. R. Construction
Commission affirms dismissal after employer ignored answer and show-cause requirements
J. R. Construction timely contested OSHA citations arising from a Kansas City, Missouri construction site but did not answer the Secretary's formal complaint. It then failed to respond to the chief judge's show-cause order, which had been mailed to an address the company itself listed. After…
Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting Co.
Scaffold access deemed de minimis, missing rails and toeboards cost $700
Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting Co. erected a tubular welded-frame scaffold about 15 feet high for two employees welding at a White Plains, New York worksite. The employees climbed down scaffold rungs spaced 18 to 24 inches apart instead of using a nearby ladder. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found…
W.R. Mollohan, Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved
W.R. Mollohan, Inc. employed four painters and sandblasters at a coal processing plant. The workers alleged they were discharged after complaining about missing safety lines and belts while working at heights and missing choker connectors on high-pressure sandblasting hoses. Judge George A. Koutras…
Opportunity Trucking, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
An administrative law judge entered a default order against Opportunity Trucking after the company did not answer the Secretary’s penalty proposal or the judge’s order to show cause. The judge assessed the proposed $800 penalty. The company then filed a motion explaining that its owner believed an…
Opportunity Trucking, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
An administrative law judge entered a default order against Opportunity Trucking after the company did not answer the Secretary’s penalty proposal or the judge’s order to show cause. The judge assessed the proposed $256 penalty. The company then filed a motion explaining that its owner believed an…
Phelps Dodge Morenci, Inc.
Motion for relief withdrawn
Phelps Dodge Morenci asked to withdraw its motion seeking relief from a final penalty order. The company explained that MSHA had rescinded the proposed penalty assessment that prompted the motion. The Commission granted the withdrawal under Commission Procedural Rule 11.
Beco Construction Company
Settlement amount sent back for further discussion
Beco Construction Company was cited after it did not notify MSHA when Portable Crusher No. 2 was moved. The violation was designated non-significant and substantial, with high negligence, and carried an original proposed penalty of $1,000. The parties asked to reduce negligence to moderate and…
Konitz Contracting, Inc.
Five citations affirmed and $175 penalty assessed
Konitz Contracting operated portable crushers at a surface gold mine and other locations. The judge found five violations involving an unapproved miner training plan, an unprotected power cord, an unguarded rotating shaft, inadequate electrical circuit protection, and an unguarded tail pulley. Four…
Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc.
Four trench items vacated, cave-in protection violation affirmed for $3,750
Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. sent an employee to weld a leaking gas line in an L-shaped excavation dug by an independent contractor in Columbus, Ohio. The Secretary withdrew one citation item before the hearing. Administrative Law Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld vacated the competent-person item because…
Whayne Supply Company
Raised-equipment citation affirmed and inspection citation vacated
Whayne Supply Company employee James Paul Blanton was killed while working beneath the belly pan of a bulldozer at a surface coal mine. The Judge found that Whayne violated the requirement to securely block raised machinery before work was performed underneath it, but concluded that the violation…
Rawl Sales and Processing Co.
Discrimination settlements approved after reinstatement
Robert Robinette and Dana Hager were reinstated with full backpay and benefits in discrimination proceedings involving Rawl Sales and Processing Co. The parties asked the Judge to approve a settlement that reduced the total proposed civil penalties from $18,000 to $10,000. Judge Arthur J. Amchan…
Murphy Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Murphy Brothers Exposition
Failed Giant Wheel rope and missing sling inspections yield $10,000
Murphy Brothers Exposition was setting up a 90-foot carnival Ferris wheel in Dallas when a damaged wire rope failed, causing moving wheel components to kill two employees and seriously injure a third employee, whose leg was partially amputated. Administrative Law Judge Stanley M. Schwartz found…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Imminent-danger withdrawal order dismissed
MSHA issued an imminent-danger withdrawal order after receiving reports that miners were using timbers and crib blocks in various ways to advance longwall shields, sometimes while holding the supports by hand near falling-rock and pinch-point hazards. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the practices…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Dust citations affirmed and other matters resolved
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company faced five consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving mandatory Mine Act standards at its C-2 and D-1 mines. The Judge affirmed two citations for failing to provide valid respirable dust samples after finding that samples had to be received by the MSHA…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Ventilation citation affirmed and penalty corrected to $3,650
Broken Hill Mining Company was cited after permanent ventilation stoppings were not maintained through the third connecting crosscut at its No. 3 Mine. The Judge rejected the company's argument that the area qualified for the regulation's room exception and found the violation significant and…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Full-record remand ordered after appellate review
L&J Energy had challenged a civil penalty decision that sustained six of seven alleged violations. After the Commission had remanded the case to address a disputed stipulation, the D.C. Circuit sent the matter back to the Commission for a new determination based on the full record. The court also…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Settlement approved with $1,254 penalty
Broken Hill Mining Company agreed to settle all citations in two civil penalty proceedings. The proposed penalties totaled $1,747, and the approved settlement reduced the payment to $1,254. The Judge vacated and dismissed two citations, modified four others as specified in the settlement, and…
First American Construction Corporation
Dissolved company remains bound by uncontested citations and penalties
OSHA issued one serious citation and one other citation after inspecting First American Construction Corporation's Brooklyn worksite. The Secretary moved to dismiss the company's notice of contest because it was filed late. At the hearing, the company's president testified that the corporation was…
Prince Carpentry, Inc.
Misfiled citation did not excuse late notice of contest
Prince Carpentry, Inc. received a serious OSHA citation and proposed penalty on November 21, 1994, making its notice of contest due by December 14. The company did not contest until January 31, 1995, after a delinquency letter prompted a search that located the citation in the wrong office folder…
Fibres South, Inc.
Unguarded yarn rollers and missing lockout review produce $4,800
Fibres South, Inc. manufactured synthetic fiber on a line that included a seven-roller Godet machine with exposed in-running nip points. The manufacturer had supplied an interlocked guard, but the company stopped using it in 1986 and required operators to cut fiber wraps from moving rollers with…
M & W Roofing Co., Inc.
Scaffold access, guardrail, and hard-hat violations affirmed for $1,100
M & W Roofing Co., Inc. worked from scaffold platforms at a Walgreens construction site in Wisconsin. An employee reached the scaffold by climbing its cross members because no ladder or equivalent safe access was provided. The 12-foot and 18-foot platforms also lacked required guardrails and…
Energy West Mining Company
Ventilation-plan dispute vacated and remanded
Energy West Mining Company was cited after an inspector measured 22,680 cubic feet of air per minute at the intake end of a longwall face where the mine's approved ventilation plan required 30,000 cubic feet per minute. Energy West argued that the requirement applied only during active coal…
Akzo Salt Company, Inc.
Damages and penalty ordered
The parties stipulated to $2,542.04 in damages owed to James Rieke in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding. Judge Gary Melick ordered Akzo Salt Company to pay those damages and a $2,000 civil penalty within 30 days. The order added those amounts to the remedies directed in the judge's August 7…
Wiser Construction LLC
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
The Secretary proposed a settlement reducing Wiser Construction LLC's civil penalty from $4,300 to $2,150. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He approved the settlement and ordered the company to pay $2,150 within 40 days. The case was…
C.W. Mining Company
Ventilation-plan violation partly affirmed and partly dismissed
C.W. Mining Company was cited after an inspector found inadequate ventilation while a continuous mining machine was cutting coal at the Bear Canyon No. 1 Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning found the ventilation-plan violation significant and substantial, but not caused by unwarrantable failure. He…
Cardinal Stone Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Delbert W. Bennett after filing an application on his behalf. Cardinal Stone Company received the application but did not notify the judge whether it requested a hearing within the required period. Judge Avram Weisberger found that Bennett's…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. moved to settle a civil penalty proceeding. The settlement proposed vacating Citation No. 3182463 and reducing the penalties for the remaining violations from $19,500 to $10,500. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement under the Mine Act's penalty criteria and ordered…
Buck Mountain Coal Company
Penalties reduced and settlements approved
These consolidated proceedings concerned 88 citations issued to the very small Buck Mountain Coal Company. The judge assessed a total $16,000 civil penalty against the Zimmerman and Schnoke partners after considering the mine's size, the serious gravity of violations connected to a March 5, 1993…
Acme Brick Company
Brake violations modified and affirmed
Acme Brick Company operated a clay pit and transported clay to a brick plant. MSHA found that the front service brakes on two trucks were disconnected and not functional. Judge Roy J. Maurer found two violations of the braking-system standard, but concluded that the Secretary had not shown a…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Consolidated contest and penalty proceedings resolved
These consolidated proceedings involved one contest and four civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged dust-control and other mine-safety violations. The judge affirmed the violation in the contested withdrawal order, vacated its significant-and-substantial finding, and found unwarrantable…
Fern Cove Incorporated
Default entered for $39,049 in penalties
The judge had issued show-cause orders in three civil penalty dockets involving Fern Cove Incorporated and Tanglewood Energy. The cases had been stayed while the Commission considered the operator's request to reopen 120 penalty cases, but the Commission denied that request. The operator did not…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Three violations affirmed and one vacated
Lakeview Rock Products was cited for missing or inadequate berms at a grizzly and ramp, and for unguarded moving parts on a crusher and conveyor. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the two berm violations and the conveyor tail-pulley violation, finding them non-significant and substantial, and assessed…
Whitacre Engineering Co.
Unguarded runway and exposed rebar produce $4,125
Whitacre Engineering Co. installed reinforcing steel for a steel-mill foundation project in Mansfield, Ohio. Employees crossed a 28-inch-wide aluminum runway that lacked a guardrail on one side, and Whitacre neither asked the general contractor to correct it nor used alternative protection. The…
Career Training Institute
Missed employee-training deadlines produce $10,900 in failure-to-abate penalties
Career Training Institute operated vocational programs in Orlando, including medical-assistance and phlebotomy training. After an initial OSHA citation became final, the school did not provide bloodborne-pathogen training to its exposed employees by the abatement date and did not give…
Empire Steel, Inc.
Commission approves $1,000 settlement with employee-leasing company
The underlying case arose after an employee fell through an opening during a Texas school re-roofing project and sustained fatal injuries. The administrative law judge had substituted employee-leasing company Corporate Compensation and Safety, Inc. for the originally cited Empire Steel, Inc. and…
Robert Codner, Employed by Tarrant Aggregates Corporation
Robert Codner (FMSHRC CENT 95-112-M): Section 110(c) order dismissed and citation settled
Robert Codner, a plant operator, was charged with two knowing safety violations involving missing or damaged guards. The Secretary dismissed the section 110(c) action based on one order and reduced the proposed penalty on the remaining citation from $1,200 to $500 after considering Codner's…
Frick Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and penalty reduced
Frick Sand & Gravel admitted that a loader's brake lights were inoperative and that its pit foreman lacked required first-aid training. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed both citations. He reduced the proposed penalty for the training violation from $195 to $50 because the operator credibly tried to…
Frick Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and penalty reduced
Frick Sand & Gravel admitted that a loader's brake lights were inoperative and that its pit foreman lacked required first-aid training. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed both citations. He reduced the proposed penalty for the training violation from $195 to $50 because the operator credibly tried to…
Shine Quarry Inc.
Ground-control citation vacated
Shine Quarry operated a basalt quarry where MSHA alleged that unstable boulders on a recently blasted wall created a hazard to a loader operator. Judge Arthur J. Amchan concluded that the Secretary had not shown that the quarry's muck piles were insufficient to protect miners from falling material…
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.