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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Tri-State Mint, Inc., and Von Hoff International, Inc., et al.
In re Tri-State Mint, Inc., and Von Hoff International, Inc., et al. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 92-3; CERCLA Appeal No. 92-1): sodium cyanide reporting case remanded
EPA Region VIII brought an enforcement case after two early-1989 releases of a sodium cyanide solution at a metal recovery facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Environmental Appeals Board held that a solution containing dissociated sodium cyanide counts as a release of sodium cyanide for…
Gallo Wine Distributors, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Gallo Wine Distributors a repeat citation and proposed penalty on June 29, 1993. An employee signed for the citation the next day, making July 22 the deadline for a notice of contest, but Gallo did not send its contest until September. Gallo said it had not received the citation…
Essex County (N.J.) Resource Recovery Facility
In re Essex County (N.J.) Resource Recovery Facility (EAB PSD Appeal No. 93-10): NOx source-separation challenge denied
The Ironbound Committee Against Toxic Waste challenged a modified Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for American Ref-Fuel's resource-recovery facility in Essex County, New Jersey. The permit required selective non-catalytic reduction and source separation of bulk yard waste to meet a…
Fort Defiance Construction & Supply, Inc.
All three trenching items vacated
Fort Defiance Construction & Supply was installing utilities in a trench at a Dayton, Ohio, road project. OSHA alleged that employees lacked a safe exit, that the onsite foreman was not a competent person, and that the trench lacked adequate cave-in protection. The judge found that employees could…
W.E. Darin Construction Enterprises, Inc.
Connector ladder item vacated
W.E. Darin Construction Enterprises was erecting structural steel at a New York jobsite when a connector fell while climbing a column and later died from his injuries. OSHA alleged that Darin violated the stairway-and-ladder standard by not providing a ladder for access to the connection point. The…
City of Haverhill, Wastewater Division
In re City of Haverhill, Wastewater Division (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-29): compliance-schedule request denied
The City of Haverhill, Massachusetts, operated a publicly owned treatment works with combined sewer overflows during wet weather. It asked EPA Region I to add a schedule of compliance that would give the City time to study and correct any water-quality violations caused by those overflows. The…
Halocarbon Products Corporation
Commission approves $5,500 chemical-safety settlement
Halocarbon Products manufactured specialty chemicals at a New Jersey plant where OSHA investigated after a reported chemical exposure hospitalized two employees, one of whom later died. OSHA alleged general-duty, respirator-program, and hazard-communication violations and initially proposed $37,000…
Hardin County, Ohio
In re Hardin County, Ohio (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 93-1): mixture-rule enforcement dismissed
EPA Region V sought to amend its complaint against Hardin County, Ohio, over wastewater-treatment sludges that allegedly contained hazardous waste and had been disposed of without a RCRA permit or interim status. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the federal mixture rule had been invalid…
Volmar Construction, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Volmar Construction a repeat citation and proposed penalties on February 3, 1993. Volmar received the citation on February 8, making March 2 the contest deadline, and its representative attended an informal conference before that deadline. OSHA told the representative that any contest…
Blankenship & Lee Pipeline Co., Inc.
Trenching and hazard-communication violations affirmed
Blankenship & Lee Pipeline was reconstructing sewer lines for a pumping station in Pelham, Georgia. An employee worked in a vertical trench that measured between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 feet deep without a ladder, adequate cave-in protection, or a hard hat; loose spoil was stored only inches from the…
E.R. Del Moral, Inc.
Scaffold and fall-hazard violations affirmed
E.R. Del Moral was performing construction work in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The judge found that employees worked on elevated scaffolds and platforms with missing end guardrails and inadequate intermediate rails, and that safety belts did not substitute for the guardrails required by the cited…
Tackett Tank, Inc.
Settlement approved over employee representative's objections
The Secretary and Tackett Tank submitted a settlement agreement in a case arising from an accident that caused an employee's death. The employee's father, acting as an authorized employee representative, submitted documents objecting to the settlement. The judge explained that Commission precedent…
Danella Construction Corporation of Florida, Inc.
Inspection and power-line-clearance items vacated
Danella Construction was installing telephone lines in Lake Worth, Florida, and used a boom truck to place an eight-foot trench shield. OSHA alleged that the company failed to have competent-person inspections and operated the boom within 10 feet of energized overhead lines. The judge found that…
Kiewit Western Company
Vehicle-lighting citations vacated for earthmoving equipment
Kiewit Western used large tractors and trailers to haul earth at the Denver airport construction site, including at night and in poor visibility. OSHA cited the equipment because the trailers lacked taillights and brake lights and two tractors lacked working brake lights. The Commission held that a…
West Texas Warehouse Company
Hazardous-waste-response items vacated
West Texas Warehouse leased part of a Lubbock warehouse to another company that stored hazardous-waste-labeled batteries. After some batteries caught fire, fire and state environmental officials asked West Texas to help move them because the tenant would not act. West Texas employees used gloves…
L.G. Defelice, Inc.
Overhead-line violations affirmed as serious
L.G. Defelice was rehabilitating a section of Interstate 70 near Washington, Pennsylvania, where heavy equipment regularly passed beneath overhead electrical lines. Two machines contacted the lines in separate incidents, and the judge found that Defelice had not trained employees on the specific…
Akbar Electric Service Company
Commission approves $200 settlement
An ALJ dismissed Akbar Electric Service Company's notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to an order to show cause. The ALJ's default order had affirmed the citations and proposed penalties in full. After Commission review was directed, the parties…
Complete General Construction Co.
Commission approves bridge-safety settlement
Complete General Construction was performing construction work on a bridge over the Black Fork of the Mohican River near Lucas, Ohio. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide life jackets, ring buoys, a lifesaving skiff, edge guardrails, and protection from protruding reinforcing steel. The…
Bielmeier Builders, Inc.
Commission approves a settlement, dropping the electrical item and cutting the guardrail item to other-than-serious
Bielmeier Builders was a custom home builder putting up a two-story house in Clarence, New York. After an April 1991 inspection, OSHA cited the company for two serious violations: running a saw off an extension cord in a damp garage area with no ground-fault protection, and leaving an open-sided…
St. Thomas Gas Company
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued St. Thomas Gas Company two citations on November 26, 1993, which the company received on December 1. The 15-working-day contest period expired on December 22, but the company's contest letter was dated December 29 and OSHA received it on January 3, 1994. St. Thomas Gas did not respond…
Metalworking Lubricants Company
In re Metalworking Lubricants Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-4): corrective-action permit terms upheld
Metalworking Lubricants Company operated an oil recycling facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, and challenged corrective-action terms in the federal portion of its RCRA permit. The company argued that a previous owner caused the contamination and that cleanup should proceed through a pending Indiana…
City of Hollywood, Florida
In re City of Hollywood, Florida (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-21): permit remanded in part
The City of Hollywood challenged conditions in its NPDES permit for the Southern Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, which discharges treated municipal wastewater to the Atlantic Ocean. The Environmental Appeals Board denied review of several effluent limits and testing objections because they…
Pittsburg and Midway Coal, Mining Company-York Cnyn Complex
Backup alarm citation affirmed with $200 penalty
Pittsburg and Midway Coal operated the York Canyon Underground Mine, where MSHA cited an explosives truck with a nonfunctioning backup alarm. Judge John J. Morris found that the truck's rear view was obstructed by explosive boxes, so the pickup-truck exception in 30 C.F.R. § 77.410(a) did not…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Inc.
Default decision entered with $1,829 penalty
Broken Hill Mining Company faced four consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving Mine Nos. 3 and 1. After the judge ordered the company to contact the Secretary about settlement, comply with the prehearing order, or show cause for its failure, the company did not comply. Judge Avram…
Southmountain Coal, Inc.
Interlocutory review petition denied
Southmountain Coal petitioned the Commission for interlocutory review of an administrative law judge's order that continued a limited stay while related criminal proceedings were pending. The Commission concluded that Southmountain had not established a basis for interlocutory review and denied the…
Inter-Power of New York, Inc.
In re Inter-Power of New York, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 92-8 and 92-9): BACT determination affirmed
EPA Region II issued Inter-Power of New York, Inc. a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for three coal-fired fluidized-bed boilers in Halfmoon, New York. Massachusetts and Concerned Citizens for the Environment challenged the permit, primarily arguing that the sulfur-dioxide limit…
Madison Branch Management
Jurisdictional motions denied in fatality-related proceedings
These consolidated proceedings concerned alleged Mine Act violations involving Madison Branch Management and Protective Security Services at a surface mine. The respondents argued that the contractor was not an operator and that the security guard was not a miner under the Mine Act. Judge Jerold…
Remp Sand & Gravel
Default order vacated and remanded
Remp Sand & Gravel failed to answer the Secretary's proposed civil penalty assessment and a judge's order to show cause, so the judge entered a default order requiring payment of $390. The company's owner later wrote to the Commission saying he did not understand that the citations were assigned to…
Union Drilling
Citations dismissed because CNG controlled the work
Union Drilling supplied workers to CNG Transmission for a natural-gas well flow-back operation. Two night-shift workers were later found inside a frac tank and were determined to have died from asphyxiation, after which OSHA cited Union and CNG separately. The judge focused on which company…
CNG Transmission Corporation
Mixed ruling on frac-tank hazards
CNG Transmission was preparing a natural-gas field for underground storage and used workers supplied by Union Drilling to monitor a frac-fluid flow-back operation. After the piping was changed so that fluid and gas flowed directly into a frac tank, two night-shift workers were found inside the tank…
Consolidation Coal Company
Two violations affirmed, two settlements approved
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine, where MSHA cited four conditions involving a danger sign near a roof fall, a non-fireproof oil and grease storage area, compressed gas cylinders near power lines, and a belt-conveyor guard. Judge David F. Barbour affirmed the…
D. M. Connor Sand Company
Settlement approved with $500 penalty
D. M. Connor Sand Company faced a proposed $539 civil penalty for several alleged violations. The parties reached a settlement before the hearing, reducing Citation No. 4084309 from $189 to $50 and changing it to non-significant and substantial, while agreeing to pay the full penalties for the…
Ray Birnbaum Scrap Yard
In re Ray Birnbaum Scrap Yard (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 92-5): $1,700 penalty affirmed
EPA Region VIII appealed a $1,700 penalty assessed against Ray Birnbaum Scrap Yard for admitted violations involving polychlorinated biphenyls. The region argued for a larger penalty based on the TSCA Civil Penalty Guidelines, while Birnbaum submitted financial information showing that the proposed…
Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Combustible-accumulation citation affirmed with $2,000 penalty
MSHA cited Buck Creek Coal for allowing loose coal and float coal dust to accumulate beneath a belt conveyor, tail roller, and feeder at the Buck Creek Mine. The accumulations reached up to 3.5 feet in depth and 18 feet in width, and the tail roller was turning in coal fines. Judge Roy J. Maurer…
Sovereign Mining Company
Settlement approved and temporary reinstatement proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor sought temporary reinstatement for Danny Shepherd after he filed discrimination complaints against Sovereign Mining Company. Judge Jerold Feldman had ordered reinstatement, and the Secretary later alleged that the company circumvented that order by reinstating and then laying…
Pontiki Coal Corporation
Contest proceedings dismissed
Pontiki Coal Corporation challenged an enforcement order, two citations, and two orders issued at the Pontiki No. 2 Mine. The contest proceedings concerned an order issued under Mine Act section 103(k), two citations issued under section 104(a), and two orders issued under section 104(b). At an…
Irishman Elkhorn Coal
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Danny Shepherd was discharged by Irishman Elkhorn Coal after he allegedly refused to operate a continuous mining machine in an unsafe condition and engaged in other protected safety activity. The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement under the Mine Act, and the company did not request a hearing…
Green Coal Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and discrimination proceeding dismissed
Bryan Wimsatt and Green Coal Company reached an amicable settlement in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding. The parties jointly asked the ALJ to dismiss the case with prejudice based on their settlement agreement. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the settlement, canceled the hearing scheduled in…
Peabody Coal Company
Multiple citations affirmed or modified, $3,081 assessed
Peabody Coal operated the Camp No. 11 underground mine in Kentucky and faced citations involving rock dust, ventilation, roof dust, a trailing cable, and respirable dust. The judge found that the rock dust violation was significant and substantial because methane and other conditions made an…
Trojan Mining Company
Compensation proceeding dismissed
James Boyd, on behalf of Local Union 1468 of the United Mine Workers of America, was ordered to show cause why the compensation proceeding should not be dismissed. No response was received by the deadline. Judge Gary Melick dismissed the case.
Mullins and Sons Coal Company, Incorporated
Remand decision reinstated unwarrantable-failure findings
MSHA cited Mullins and Sons Coal Company for combustible coal-dust accumulations and inadequate rock dusting at its No. 6 Mine. The operator stipulated that the violations occurred and were significant and substantial, leaving unwarrantable failure as the issue on remand. Judge Jerold Feldman…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Conveyor guard citation affirmed with $50 penalty
MSHA cited Brown Brothers Sand Company after an inspector found that the guard on the tail pulley of a railroad-car conveyor belt was lying on the ground while the belt was operating. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the guard was not securely in place and that no testing or adjustment justified…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.,
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 92-408): Roof-support citation affirmed, unwarrantable-failure finding vacated
MSHA cited Jim Walter Resources after miners and managers traveled through a longwall crosscut near the shield break line without additional roof support. The judge affirmed the violation and its significant-and-substantial designation because continued mining could expose travelers to roof or rib…
Dunlop Tire Corporation
Settlement reclassifies citation and sets $7,000 penalty
OSHA issued Dunlop Tire Corporation one citation in October 1992, and Dunlop filed a timely contest. The United Rubber Workers, Local No. 915, was granted party status. When the case came to hearing, the parties announced that they had resolved every issue and stated their agreement on the record…
Hickory Coal Company
Settlement approval vacated and remanded
Hickory Coal Company and the Secretary agreed to settle two civil penalties totaling $40, while one citation would be vacated. The ALJ approved the settlement, but Hickory later objected to statements in the Secretary's motion about its negligence and said it had not agreed to those terms. The…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Highwall violations sustained after fatal rock fall
L & J Energy operated a surface coal mine where a rock fall killed one miner and seriously injured another. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the operator failed to maintain and inspect the highwall, failed to follow its ground control plan, and failed to provide required examinations and training…
KYN Coal Company Incorporated
Stay proposed in respirable-dust proceeding
KYN Coal Company faced civil penalties based on allegations that respirable-dust samples had been invalidated by removing dust from the samples before submission. Because a related master docket involved alleged tampering of respirable-dust cassettes and could provide guidance, the ALJ proposed…
Morton International, Inc., Morton Salt
Methane citations vacated in abandoned area
Morton International, Inc., Morton Salt challenged methane citations issued at its Weeks Island domal salt mine. MSHA recorded methane readings of 1 percent and 3.25 percent in an abandoned area. The ALJ held that the cited standards addressed mine atmosphere in active workings and did not apply to…
G & C Mining Company, Inc.
Five citations affirmed and one vacated
G & C Mining Company faced six citations at its limestone quarry for traffic rules, electrical labels, vehicle brakes, and backup alarms. The ALJ found that five violations were proven and assessed a total of $185 in penalties, including one significant-and-substantial brake violation. The ALJ…
Wagner Sand & Stone, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
Wagner Sand & Stone failed to answer a civil-penalty proposal and a judge's order to show cause, so the judge entered a default order requiring payment of $294. The company later said that the parties had agreed to settle and that the Secretary's counsel had acknowledged a mistake, but the attached…
Mountaintop Restoration, Inc.
$3,150 in penalties affirmed
Mountaintop Restoration was assessed penalties for 24 violations at its underground coal mines. The violations included an inaccurate check-in and check-out record that failed to show who was underground. The ALJ found all violations proven, rejected the company's claim that the penalties would…
T & F Sand and Gravel, Inc., et al.
Proceedings reopened and remanded
The ALJs in 17 consolidated civil penalty proceedings had remanded proposed penalties to the Secretary for recalculation under the Commission's Drummond decision. The Secretary later said the cases had been remanded by mistake because they did not involve excessive violation history and asked to…
Tug Valley Coal Processing
Penalty dismissal vacated and remanded
Tug Valley Coal Processing paid a proposed civil penalty, and the ALJ reviewed the penalty and dismissed the proceeding. Tug Valley later said it paid through genuine mistake and should still be allowed to contest the violation. The Commission found that the record did not show whether the payment…
Huntington Piping Incorporated
Two fall-protection violations affirmed and $600 assessed
Huntington Piping Incorporated was an independent contractor working on a bathhouse at a West Virginia coal mine. Three employees worked about 20 feet above the ground without properly using safety belts and lines, and they left the roof by climbing on steel beams instead of using a safe means of…
W. A. Schemmer Limestone Quarry Incorporated
Three settlements approved, two brake violations affirmed, and $2,100 assessed
W. A. Schemmer Limestone Quarry operated a limestone quarry in Iowa. The ALJ approved settlements reducing three penalties to $50 each, for violations involving an unsecured compressed-gas cylinder, a missing safety cap, and an unclean shop floor. The ALJ also affirmed two brake violations…
Commercial Cartage Company, Inc.
In re Commercial Cartage Company, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 93-2): dismissal reversed and case remanded
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation challenged dismissal of its complaint against Commercial Cartage Company, Inc. The complaint alleged that the carrier transported gasoline with a Reid Vapor Pressure above the 7.8 psi limit applicable in the St. Louis non-attainment area. The Board held that the…
Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corp.
Discrimination cases dismissed after settlement
The Secretary brought two discrimination complaints on behalf of Robert W. Buelke, alleging that Santa Fe Pacific Gold discharged him twice in retaliation for protected safety activity. Before the ALJ issued a liability decision, the parties reached a comprehensive settlement covering the…
Hern Iron Works, Inc.
Commission raises record-access penalty to $5,000
Hern Iron Works refused to provide its OSHA injury and illness records during an inspection conducted under an administrative search warrant. After earlier litigation over the warrant, an ALJ affirmed a willful record-access violation but reduced the Secretary's proposed $10,000 penalty to $200…
Texas Gravel Incorporated
Settlement approved at $1,100
Texas Gravel Incorporated faced a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $2,372 to $1,100. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the statutory penalty criteria, approved it, and ordered payment within 30 days.
Roxcoal Incorporated
Settlement approved, one citation modified, and $239 assessed
Roxcoal Incorporated faced a civil penalty proceeding involving two citations. The approved settlement removed the significant-and-substantial designation from Citation No. 3706730 and reduced its penalty from $169 to $50. Roxcoal also agreed to pay the proposed $189 penalty for Citation No…
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.