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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Meshach Coal Company, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
Meshach Coal failed to answer the Secretary's proposed penalty assessment and an order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order assessing a $2,000 penalty. Meshach's president later told the Commission that he had settled the case for $500 and had already paid that amount. The Commission…
Sandy Jones Construction
Default order vacated and remanded
Sandy Jones Construction did not answer the Secretary's proposed penalty assessment or an ALJ's order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order assessing the proposed $4,000 penalty. The company's owner later said he had mailed an answer and tried to resolve the matter. The Commission…
James D. Waters v. IMC Fertilizer, Inc.
Discriminatory termination found after safety complaints
James D. Waters was a manager at IMC Fertilizer's Carlsbad, New Mexico mine who raised safety concerns about a supervisor's conduct and the use of PVC pipe to transfer acid. IMC terminated him in a reduction in force, while other managers at his level received retirement or transfer options. Judge…
Atlantic Battery Company, Inc.
Mixed lead, hazard-communication, fire-safety, and posting rulings reduced penalties to $7,240
Atlantic Battery manufactured and sold batteries at a small Massachusetts plant where OSHA cited lead exposure, medical removal, housekeeping, hazard communication, fire safety, eyewash, respiratory protection, and posting conditions. The Commission affirmed willful violations for allowing a…
Tanoma Mining Company, Incorporated
CLR appearance accepted and prehearing order issued
Tanoma Mining Company was defending a civil penalty proceeding involving the Tanoma Mine. The Secretary's filing was presented by an MSHA Conference and Litigation Representative, or CLR, rather than an attorney from the Solicitor's Office. Judge Paul Merlin allowed the CLR to represent the…
Rox Coal Incorporated
CLR appearances accepted and prehearing orders issued
Rox Coal Incorporated was defending four civil penalty proceedings involving the Diamond T B Mine. The Secretary's petitions were presented by an MSHA Conference and Litigation Representative, or CLR, rather than an attorney from the Solicitor's Office. Judge Paul Merlin allowed the CLR to…
Consolidation Coal Company
CLR appearance accepted and prehearing order issued
Consolidation Coal Company was defending a civil penalty proceeding involving the Dilworth Mine. The Secretary's filing was presented by an MSHA Conference and Litigation Representative, or CLR, rather than an attorney from the Solicitor's Office. Judge Paul Merlin allowed the CLR to represent the…
Professional Masonry, Inc.
Settlement fixed penalties at $1,600
An administrative law judge dismissed Professional Masonry's notice of contest after the company did not answer the complaint or respond to a show-cause order. After review was directed, the parties filed a stipulation resolving all outstanding issues. The company represented that all cited…
Centex-Rooney Construction Co.
Repeated fall-protection violations affirmed with $25,000 in penalties
Centex-Rooney was the general contractor for construction of two-story hotel buildings at a Florida resort. OSHA cited one defective ground-fault circuit interrupter, uncovered pipe-chase openings, and inadequate perimeter guardrails. The Commission vacated the electrical item because regular…
W-P Coal Company
Bathhouse citation affirmed and $250 penalty assessed
W-P Coal Company held the mining rights to a West Virginia coal mine and used Top Kat Mining as its contract operator. MSHA cited W-P for a bathhouse floor that was rotten, wet, and weak, after modifying the citation to name W-P as a co-operator. On remand, Judge Gary Melick rejected W-P's…
C. Abbonizio Contractors, Inc.
Excavation contractor held responsible for trench created by its workers
C. Abbonizio Contractors supplied two workers and a backhoe to dig an improperly sloped and unshored trench at a New Jersey aquarium project. The company argued that the construction manager employed or controlled the workers for that task. The Commission held that Abbonizio remained the employer…
Mutual Mining, Inc.
Back pay and civil penalty ordered
Mutual Mining had previously been found to have violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act by discharging five complainants. Judge Arthur J. Amchan granted the Secretary's motion for summary judgment on damages and ordered back-pay awards ranging from $5,203.31 to $46,825.73. He also assessed a $5,000…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Citation modified and $252 settlement approved
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation was cited after a continuous miner operator stood inside the chain conveyor while cleaning and servicing the machine without removing and tagging out the trailing-cable power. Judge Paul Merlin accepted the MSHA Conference and Litigation Representative's…
ABM Coal Company, Inc.
Mixed results across four consolidated penalty proceedings
ABM Coal Company faced 32 alleged violations across four civil penalty proceedings at its No. 1 Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved settlements in two dockets, vacated one citation, modified three citations by removing significant-and-substantial designations, and affirmed the remaining citations…
Armstrong Steel Erectors, Inc.
Bridge steel-erection fall-protection violation affirmed serious, $2,500
Armstrong Steel Erectors was erecting steel on an I-71 bridge overpass in Cleveland, Ohio, when OSHA inspected in August 1993 and cited it for a serious fall-protection violation. Compliance officers videotaped ironworkers moving across unguarded girders more than 25 feet up without using the…
Buck Mountain Coal Company, and Richard Kocher, Sr., Oscar Blough, Jr., David Zimmerman, Paul Zimmerman, and Harold Schnoke, as Partners
Buck Mountain Coal Company, and Partners (FMSHRC PENN 94-104, PENN 94-63, PENN 94-64, PENN 94-65, PENN 94-66): Partner liability issues set for hearing
Buck Mountain Coal Company and its partners faced numerous citations issued between September 1992 and July 1993. Judge Jerold Feldman rejected a partner's argument that the Mine Act did not apply because the mine's activities did not affect interstate commerce. He held that the partners who…
Power Operating Company
Mixed results across nine consolidated penalty proceedings
Power Operating Company faced alleged mandatory safety-standard violations across nine consolidated civil penalty proceedings. Judge Avram Weisberger found an unwarrantable failure and a significant-and-substantial violation involving unsafe highwall conditions, affirmed other highwall and…
Chrisman Ready-Mix, Inc.
Settlement approved and $326 penalty ordered
Chrisman Ready-Mix faced eight alleged violations across two civil penalty proceedings at the Clarkville Quarry. The Secretary agreed to vacate one citation in each docket, while Chrisman agreed to pay the proposed penalties for the remaining six citations. Judge Jerold Feldman approved the…
Copperas Coal Corporation
Discrimination case settled and dismissed
Phillip R. Elswick alleged that Copperas Coal reassigned him from his certified electrician position to a greaser position after he reported an unsafe breaker and panic switch on a continuous mining machine. The parties settled during the hearing, and Judge George A. Koutras approved the settlement…
Rox Coal, Inc.
Roof-control settlement approved
Rox Coal contested one significant-and-substantial citation and two significant-and-substantial orders involving roof-control and examination conditions at its Diamond T C Mine. After a hearing, the parties agreed that the evidence did not establish aggravated conduct and proposed settlement terms…
Turner Construction Company
Defective-ladder citation vacated on summary judgment
Turner Construction was the general contractor at a worksite in Akron, Ohio. After a September 1993 inspection, OSHA cited two serious items, then dropped the first and pursued only a claim that Turner used a portable wood ladder with a structural defect (a cracked step) in violation of 29 C.F.R. §…
Guarco Construction Company
Repeat trench cave-in citation affirmed $7,000
Guarco Construction, a two-person company acting as general contractor, was installing a sewer line at a restaurant in East Granby, Connecticut. Two off-duty OSHA officers driving past noticed an unshored, unsloped trench and stopped to inspect. They measured the trench at about 5 feet 4 inches to…
Navajo Concrete Incorporated
Ten-citation settlement approved
Navajo Concrete faced ten civil-penalty citations originally assessed at $1,571. The parties proposed a settlement requiring payment of $1,256, supported by information about the statutory penalty criteria. Judge John J. Morris found the settlement reasonable and in the public interest, approved…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Nantz v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Constructive discharge and back-pay award affirmed
Clayton Nantz operated an enclosed-cab bulldozer at Nally & Hamilton's surface coal mine. After the bulldozer's rear window broke, dust entered the cab, causing choking, breathing, and visibility problems. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's finding that Nantz's refusal to operate the bulldozer and a…
Bridger Coal Company
Respirable-dust citation vacated
Bridger Coal operated a surface coal mine where MSHA cited a drill operator's designated work position for exceeding a respirable-dust limit. Judge August F. Cetti found that the reduced limit had originally been based on a single quartz sample, and that the single-shift method could not reliably…
Redstone Mining Incorporated
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Redstone Mining faced a proposed civil penalty of $2,500. Judge Avram Weisberger approved the parties' settlement after considering the submitted representations and documentation under the statutory penalty criteria. The settlement reduced the penalty to $1,700, which the operator was ordered to…
Manalapan Mining Company
Settlement approved on remand
Manalapan Mining Company faced civil penalty proceedings in two dockets involving Mine #6. After the Commission remanded the cases, Judge Avram Weisberger reviewed the parties' joint settlement motion and the record. He found that the settlement terms met the criteria in section 110(i) of the Mine…
Ambrosia Coal & Construction Company
Highlift violations affirmed and penalties assessed
Ambrosia Coal operated a tipple where a highlift had no operable brakes and was also missing a seatbelt and fire extinguisher. Judge William Fauver found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.404(a) by failing to maintain the highlift in safe operating condition and remove it from service. He…
Anthony Crane Rental, Inc.
Crane inspection and maintenance violations affirmed after court remand
Anthony Crane Rental leased a crane whose boom later collapsed at an airport construction project, killing another contractor's employee. After a court remand, the issue was whether Anthony Crane Rental's own employees had been exposed to the conditions involving missing annual-inspection records…
Siravo Contracting, Inc.
Three scaffold and masonry items affirmed, two vacated, $975
Siravo Contracting was doing masonry work on a Caldor department store construction site in Philadelphia when OSHA inspected in December 1992 after a referral about an overloaded, unguarded scaffold. The agency issued five serious items: too much block stored on the scaffold, an untapered stack of…
Monarch Cement Company
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Monarch Cement faced a civil penalty proceeding involving the Monarch Cement Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman approved the Secretary's settlement motion after reviewing the agreement and supporting documentation. The settlement reduced the proposed penalty from $506 to $350. The case was to be dismissed…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Penalties reassessed after S&S findings
Buffalo Crushed Stone faced five similar violations involving berms under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9301. After the Commission determined that the violations were significant and substantial, it sent the cases back for penalty reassessment. Judge Avram Weisberger found that each violation warranted a $136…
Lang Sand & Gravel Company, Incorporated
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Raymond Otis Stiefel alleged that Lang Sand & Gravel demoted him and effectively forced him to quit after he reported safety concerns and an accident to MSHA. Judge David F. Barbour found that Stiefel engaged in protected activity, including reporting the accident and brake problem. The judge…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co., York Cnyn Complex
Methane violations affirmed and settlements approved
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company's York Canyon operations were involved in a consolidated civil penalty proceeding covering 13 dockets. In CENT 94-47, the judge affirmed a citation and withdrawal order after finding that the operator failed to deenergize equipment and withdraw personnel when…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Payment method order modified
Brown Brothers Sand Company petitioned for review of an order requiring it to pay civil penalties by a single check or money order. The Commission held that currency and coins are legal tender and found no basis in the Mine Act or the Secretary's regulations for restricting the payment method. It…
Freeman United Coal Mining Co.
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Derald Wilson brought a discrimination complaint against Freeman United Coal Mining Co. At the hearing, Wilson requested permission to withdraw the complaint after documentary evidence showed that the alleged retaliatory event occurred before the protected activity he identified. Judge Gary Melick…
North American Slate Incorporated
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $20
North American Slate operated the Bush Quarry and faced a $50 penalty because required health and safety inspection records were not being kept. The Secretary explained that the mine operated intermittently, was small, and had recently opened, which reduced the assessed negligence. Judge Paul…
Art Beavers Construction Co.
Delayed penalty assessment upheld as reasonable
Art Beavers Construction contested a citation alleging that a miner's required training certificate was not available for inspection. The Secretary proposed the penalty 330 days after the citation was issued, and the operator argued that the delay required dismissal. Judge August F. Cetti found…
Davey Tree Expert Company
General duty clause electrocution citation vacated on unpreventable-misconduct defense
Davey Tree Expert Company trims trees around power lines for utilities. On April 14, 1993, one of its working foremen was fatally electrocuted in Winchester, New Hampshire when he contacted an energized primary wire from an aerial-lift bucket while trimming under a contract with Public Service of…
Friend & Rikalo, Incorporated
Citations modified and $525 penalty ordered
Friend & Rikalo operated a gravel pit and a portable crusher. MSHA alleged that electrical cables lacked proper fittings, conveyor warning systems were missing, and moving parts were inadequately guarded. Judge Avram Weisberger found the violations proved, but held that seven citations were not…
Del Val Ink & Color, Inc.
In re Del Val Ink & Color, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 94-1): EAJA fee application held untimely
Del Val Ink & Color applied for attorneys' fees after EPA dismissed its enforcement complaint with prejudice. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the dismissal was a voluntary dismissal that became a final disposition on the date it was issued because EPA initiated the dismissal and agreed to…
All American Asphalt
Discrimination found in failure to recall
All American Asphalt operated a rock finishing plant where four employees raised safety concerns about an unfinished plant that was put into operation. The employees and other workers provided information during an MSHA investigation, and the plant was shut down until violations were corrected…
Masonite Corporation
In re Masonite Corporation (EAB PSD Appeal No. 94-1): review denied in part and remanded in part
Citizens for a Healthy Ukiah challenged EPA Region IX's after-the-fact PSD permit for Masonite Corporation's hardboard manufacturing facility in Ukiah, California. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld the Region's separate BACT analyses for the Press Line and Grain Line and accepted the Region's…
Walter Kuhl and Son
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $175
Walter Kuhl and Son faced a civil penalty in a Mine Act proceeding. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $364 to $175. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the statutory penalty criteria, approved it, and ordered payment within 30 days.
Peabody Coal Company
Dust-sample location violation affirmed
Peabody Coal operated the Marissa Mine, an underground coal mine in Illinois. MSHA cited the operator after finding that a respirable-dust sampling pump was collecting a sample outside the location specified in the approved ventilation and dust-control plan. The Commission held that the location…
G. Pugni & Son, Inc.
Demolition head-protection and engineering-survey items affirmed, $3,500
G. Pugni & Son was a demolition and rehabilitation subcontractor at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, New York. On August 18, 1993, a suspended concrete and plaster ceiling collapsed onto two workers who were tearing it down, and OSHA inspected after a news-media referral. The agency issued…
Marino Midwest, Inc.
Crane limit-switch violation affirmed, penalty cut to $2,000
Marino Midwest, an underground construction contractor, used a Bucyrus-Erie crawler crane to hoist loads to workers at the bottom of a shaft in Evanston, Illinois. OSHA cited the company because the crane lacked a limit switch to prevent the load from overtraveling past the boom tip, in violation…
Broshear Contractors, Inc.
Trench egress and cave-in protection violations affirmed
Broshear Contractors excavated a trench along a public road in Ohio to install a water line. The Commission rejected the company's Fourth Amendment challenge because the compliance officer observed the open trench and employees from a public road, where the company had no reasonable expectation of…
Buffalo Crushed Stone, Inc.
Berm violations found S&S and remanded for penalty reassessment
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated an open-pit limestone quarry where trucks dumped material beside stockpiles. MSHA cited five locations because the berms were too low to restrain the largest mobile equipment from overtravel. The ALJ found the violations but concluded they were not significant and…
Mutual Mining Incorporated
Default compensation order issued
Mutual Mining Incorporated was ordered to answer a complaint for compensation within 30 days or explain why it could not do so. The company did not respond to that order. Judge Gary Melick therefore found the company in default and ordered it to pay compensation within 30 days to the miners listed…
Keystone Coal Mining Corp.
Settlement approved and discrimination proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor brought a discrimination proceeding on behalf of miners who alleged discrimination under section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. The parties agreed that the miners named in the settlement would receive the agreed back pay. Judge William Fauver found the…
Pyramid Mining Incorporated
Auger-hole decision vacated and remanded
Pyramid Mining operated a surface coal mine with auger holes left in an area where active mining had moved elsewhere. MSHA cited the company for failing to block the holes before they were abandoned. The ALJ had found no violation because Pyramid said it intended to resume drilling. The Commission…
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.
Fall protection required during elevated training
Cleveland Electric Illuminating required experienced electrical installers in a training program to cross narrow steel bridge structures as high as 36 feet without fall protection. The utility argued that unprotected exposure to height was psychologically necessary to prepare employees for…
The Pit
Reopening request for uncontested penalty denied
The Pit asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested civil penalty assessment so it could file a late contest. The operator said it received notice after the contest period, that the notice went to an outdated address, that another MSHA case caused confusion, and that its representative was out of…
Peabody Coal Company
Penalty reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Peabody Coal asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested civil penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. Peabody said temporary employees in its legal department were confused about the procedures for contesting proposed penalties. The Secretary…
Catenary Coal Company
Traffic-sign citation affirmed and $250 penalty assessed
Catenary Coal Company operated the Campbells Creek Surface Facilities, where two haul roads had downhill sections and different traffic-sign conditions. MSHA cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1600(b) for failing to standardize and post traffic rules, signals, and warning signs. Judge Gary…
Centralia Mining Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and case dismissed
The Secretary of Labor filed a temporary-reinstatement proceeding on behalf of Robbie A. Smith against Centralia Mining Company. The parties submitted a joint settlement agreement and a joint motion to dismiss. Judge John J. Morris found good cause and approved the settlement. The case was…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources contested an order issued after a longwall section operated while its ventilation plan required operations to stop because respirable-dust sampling showed noncompliance. The administrative law judge found that the operator had violated its approved ventilation plan and the…
Manalapan Mining Company, Inc.
Settlement motion remanded to judge
The Secretary of Labor and Manalapan Mining Company jointly asked the Commission to approve a settlement covering Docket Nos. KENT 93-614 and 615. Manalapan also asked to voluntarily dismiss its appeal. The Commission had granted review of an administrative law judge's decision, while related cases…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Seven quarry citations resolved in part
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated the Wehrle Quarry, a limestone operation inspected in December 1993. The administrative law judge found violations involving an unguarded fuel-pump pinch point, broken glass in an access door, an uncovered electrical junction box, an uncleated walkway, and a low…
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.