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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Larry D. Irvin, Employed by New Horizons Coal, Inc.
Underground-smoking citation affirmed and $250 assessed
Larry D. Irvin was working underground at the Dulcimer No. 7 Mine when an inspector observed what he believed was a lighted cigarette and smelled cigarette smoke. A search found no cigarette or other smoking materials, and Irvin denied smoking, but the ALJ credited the inspector's testimony and…
Island Creek Coal Company
Coal-accumulation order modified and $1,897 assessed
Island Creek Coal Company was cited after inspectors found loose coal and coal dust accumulated along the ribs of an underground mine supply road. The ALJ adopted the parties' settlements on several citations and considered one remaining order alleging a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.400. He found…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Unguarded V-belt violations affirmed and $700 assessed
Walker Stone operated a limestone quarry and mill in Kansas. The ALJ found that V-belt drive units on two screens were not individually guarded, and that locked gates restricting access did not satisfy the guarding standard. The violations were found non-significant and substantial, with moderate…
Spancrete Northeast, Inc.
Commission rejects greater-hazard defense for safety nets
Spancrete Northeast installed precast concrete planks for a 10-story hotel addition in Uniondale, New York. OSHA cited the company because three employees worked near the seventh-floor perimeter without safety nets or other fall protection while directing a crane and positioning 5,400-pound planks…
Burlington Northern Railroad Company
In re Burlington Northern Railroad Company (EAB CAA Appeal No. 93-3): penalty decision modified
Burlington Northern Railroad Company was assessed a $25,000 civil penalty for a violation involving the open burning of creosote-treated railroad ties under the Montana State Implementation Plan. EPA's Office of Enforcement appealed the calculation of economic benefit because the Initial Decision…
Consolidation Coal Company
Expedited-hearing and continuance motions denied
Consolidation Coal contested two citations and one order alleging unwarrantable-failure violations at its West Virginia mines. The company sought an expedited hearing, while the Secretary sought a continuance until related civil-penalty proceedings could be consolidated. Judge Jerold Feldman denied…
Swift v. Consolidation Coal Company
Injury reporting protected, facial-discrimination finding reversed, and case remanded
Larry E. Swift, Mark Snyder, and Randy Cunningham, miners at Consolidation Coal's Dilworth Mine, challenged a high-risk injury program that could lead to suspension or discharge after repeated injuries. The Commission held that reporting mine injuries is protected activity under the Mine Act. It…
Cobra Mining Incorporated
Settlement approved at $240
Cobra Mining Incorporated faced a civil penalty for an alleged violation of 30 C.F.R. § 71.803 at its surface mine. The parties agreed to reduce the proposed $382 penalty to $240. Judge Arthur J. Amchan approved the settlement and ordered payment in 12 monthly installments of $20, after which the…
Homestead Gourmet Food Co., Inc.
Settlement approved after hearing
OSHA inspected Homestead Gourmet Food Company's facility in Linden, New Jersey, and issued two citations. The citations alleged six serious violations and five other-than-serious violations under standards addressing exits, personal protective equipment, emergency washing, electrical training…
Caribco International Corporation
Scaffold and safety-program violations affirmed
Caribco International was working at a fitness-facility construction site at Fort Buchanan in San Juan, Puerto Rico. OSHA cited missing scaffold guardrails, an unguarded open-sided floor, inadequate scaffold bracing, and failures to maintain an accident-prevention program and train employees to…
Magma Copper Company
Escapeway citations dismissed
Magma Copper Company operated the Superior underground copper mine, where MSHA cited two elevations for allegedly lacking two escapeways under 30 C.F.R. § 57.11050(a). The dispute was whether the 3200 and 4100 elevations were regulatory “levels” requiring two escapeways. Judge Avram Weisberger…
Production Plated Plastics, Inc.
In re Production Plated Plastics, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 92-3): untimely appeal dismissed
Production Plated Plastics, Inc. failed to submit a required report about hazardous-waste exports for calendar year 1989. EPA Region V issued an Initial Decision and Default Order assessing a $9,500 penalty and requiring compliance with the reporting requirements. The company appealed, but the…
Mullins and Sons Coal Company, Inc.
Unwarrantable-failure findings vacated and remanded
Mullins and Sons Coal Company operated the No. 6 underground coal mine in Pike County, Kentucky. An MSHA inspection found three to six inches of coal and coal dust accumulations in six entries, along with areas that had not been rock dusted. The company conceded the violations and their significant…
Nitro Electric Company
Commission denies EAJA fees based on parent-company resources
Nitro Electric sought attorneys' fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing in an OSHA matter. Nitro itself met the Act's financial eligibility limit, but its parent company, Concorp, exceeded the $7 million net-worth ceiling for a qualifying corporation. The record showed shared…
Martin Marietta Aggregates
Settlement amount corrected to $400
The Secretary proposed penalties for eight citations issued to Martin Marietta Aggregates. The parties' settlement motion stated that Martin Marietta would pay $50 for each violation, but due to a calculation error listed the total as $350 instead of $400. The ALJ approved the settlement before the…
John J. Stack v. Echo Bay Minerals
Discrimination complaint dismissed
John J. Stack alleged that Echo Bay Minerals retaliated against him after he complained that crews were drilling and loading at the same time. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Stack engaged in protected activity, but the evidence did not show that Echo Bay transferred, reassigned, or treated him…
Webster County Coal Corp.
Concrete-block stopping citation vacated
MSHA cited Webster County Coal Corp. after finding that concrete-block ventilation stoppings plastered on one side might not meet the structural-strength requirements of 30 C.F.R. § 75.333. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the Secretary had not shown a violation based on the inspector's observations…
Pecks Branch Mining Company, Incorporated, Jerry Smith, and Troy Hunt
Settlement motion denied
These consolidated civil penalty cases arose from MSHA's investigation of a fatal roof fall at Pecks Branch Mining Company's No. 1 Mine. The Secretary sought $123,800 in penalties against the company and two agents for alleged violations of mandatory underground coal mine standards. The parties…
Monitor Construction Company
Commission upholds formwork fall citations at $1,260
Monitor Construction erected concrete formwork for a parking garage at a Cincinnati shopping mall. OSHA cited 16-inch-wide, 30-inch-deep beam troughs that were not covered or guarded and an open deck edge nearly 10 feet above the ground. The Commission held that the troughs qualified as floor…
City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts (East and West Plants)
In re City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts (East and West Plants) (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 93-13, 93-14, 93-15, and 93-16): review of state-certified limits denied
The City of Fitchburg, the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District, and the Charles River Pollution Control District challenged toxic-metals limits in four Massachusetts wastewater permits. The limits were based on Massachusetts water-quality standards that incorporated EPA's Gold Book…
Armco Steel Co., L.P.
Crane-runway and cylinder citations vacated
Armco Steel operated a steel-manufacturing facility in Middletown, Ohio. OSHA cited an unguarded crane runway 34 feet above the floor under the open-sided-platform standard, alternatively alleged that employees needed safety belts and lanyards, and cited an unsecured acetylene cylinder under the…
Southern Forming, Inc.
Broad safety violations affirmed at $69,150
Southern Forming, also known as Suncrete Construction, performed concrete formwork at construction sites in Sunny Isles and Delray Beach, Florida. At the Sunny Isles site, an employee fell to his death from a stairway, and OSHA's investigation identified numerous fall-protection, stairway…
Western Fuels-Utah, Inc.
One communication-cable contest dismissed and one sustained
MSHA cited Western Fuels-Utah at the Deserado underground coal mine for communication cables installed near 480-volt power conductors without additional insulation. Judge John J. Morris found that one citation involved a communication cable passing beneath a power cable with a three-inch gap, while…
Rhone-Poulenc of Wyoming Co.
Electrical shock citation affirmed after remand
Rhone-Poulenc of Wyoming operated the Big Island Mine and Refinery, where an electrical foreman received an electrical shock-type injury while working inside an electrical control compartment. The foreman had not locked out the equipment or taken another effective measure to prevent the shock…
Adcom Wire, d/b/a Adcom Wire
In re Adcom Wire, d/b/a Adcom Wire (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-2): HSWA permit remanded for jurisdictional determination
Adcom Wire operated a wire-manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida, under a split state and federal RCRA permit. Adcom disputed whether it had treated, stored, or disposed of hazardous waste after November 19, 1980, the date relevant to federal corrective-action jurisdiction. The…
Bethenergy Mines, Incorporated
Ventilation citations and penalty proceedings dismissed
Bethenergy Mines faced consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving methane levels and the operation of bleeder entries at its Cambria Slope No. 33 Mine. The judge found that the Secretary did not establish that the mine's approved ventilation plan imposed the specific methane…
Consolidation Coal Company
Four orders resolved, two modified
Consolidation Coal Company operated the Osage No. 3 Mine, where MSHA brought a civil penalty case involving four section 104(d)(2) S&S orders. One order alleging coal and float-coal-dust accumulations under 30 C.F.R. § 75.316 was settled for $3,000 before the decision. Judge George A. Koutras…
Tanoma Mining Company, aka Tanoma Mining Company, Inc.
Tanoma Mining Company (FMSHRC PENN 93-111, PENN 93-112): Belt guarding orders resolved
Tanoma Mining Company operated an underground coal mine where MSHA cited inadequate guarding around a belt drive and a tail pulley. Judge William Fauver found that both conditions violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1722(b) and were significant and substantial because a miner could contact a roller pinchpoint…
Metric Constructors, Inc.
General contractor held liable for subcontractor hazards
Metric Constructors was the general contractor for a 29-building federal prison project covering about 200 acres in Estill, South Carolina. OSHA cited scaffold, trench, hazard-communication, fire-extinguisher, compressed-gas-cylinder, and trench-access conditions created by subcontractors whose…
Nooter Construction Co.
Cylinder and ladder items affirmed, scaffold item vacated
Nooter Construction was building coke drums at a New Jersey refinery when OSHA cited compressed-gas-cylinder, ladder, and scaffold conditions. The Commission reversed the ALJ's cylinder ruling, holding that a three-sided cylinder truck was not suitable when its securing chain was left open and the…
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Stay pending appeal denied
Air Products and Chemicals asked the Commission to stay its December 9, 1993 decision while an appeal was pending in the Third Circuit. The Commission had jurisdiction because the appellate record had not yet been filed. Applying the stay standard cited in the order, the Commission found that Air…
SEI Birchwood, Inc.
In re SEI Birchwood, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 93-11 & 93-12): petitions for review denied
SEI Birchwood sought a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit to build a 220-megawatt coal-fired electric generating facility in King George County, Virginia. Sarah Nasta and Citizens for Sensible Power challenged the permit based on concerns including public notice, impacts on historical…
Thomasville Stone & Lime Company
Discrimination complaints dismissed under settlement
James A. Weatherington and Dale H. Hoke filed discrimination complaints under section 105(c) of the Mine Act against Thomasville Stone & Lime Company. The parties entered a settlement under which the company agreed to remove documents related to the events from the complainants’ personnel and other…
Armco Steel Company, L.P.
Platform and runway items affirmed, switch item vacated
Armco Steel operated a steel-manufacturing plant in Middletown, Ohio. The judge affirmed a serious violation for an unguarded seven-foot-high pulpit area where operators regularly retrieved supplies, finding that the area functioned as a covered work platform, and assessed $700. He also affirmed a…
General Electric Company Aircraft Engine Group
Wet-location electrical citation vacated
General Electric manufactured aircraft engines at its Evendale, Ohio, facility. OSHA cited an electrical enclosure on a building column under the rule for damp or wet locations. The area was dry during the inspection and normally stayed dry, although earlier rainwater had leaked through the roof…
Tanglewood Energy, Inc.
Damages awarded after discrimination finding
An earlier decision found Tanglewood Energy, Inc. in violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act in a case brought on behalf of Perry Poddey. Judge Arthur J. Amchan then adopted the parties’ stipulation on the amount due and ordered the company to pay $9,094.38. The amount represented back wages…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Back pay awarded after discrimination finding
An earlier decision found that Jim Walter Resources discriminated against James Johnson in violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act by imposing a two-day unpaid suspension. Judge William Fauver retained jurisdiction to decide damages and awarded Johnson $564.70 in back pay, plus interest from…
Mayo Resources Incorporated
Coal mine citations affirmed
Mayo Resources operated the underground Mine No. 1, where MSHA cited combustible accumulations beneath a belt, stuck conveyor rollers, and an exposed splice in a roof-bolting machine’s trailing cable. Judge William Fauver found violations of 30 C.F.R. §§ 75.400, 75.1725(a), and 75.517. He found the…
Island Creek Coal Company
Settlement approved and roof-plan citation affirmed
Island Creek Coal Company faced a civil penalty case involving a roof-control-plan citation and several other citations and orders. The parties settled the other matters, reducing the proposed penalties from $9,979 to $8,326, deleting some S&S findings, vacating one order, and modifying several…
Beckman Production Services
In re Beckman Production Services (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 92-9 through 92-16): commercial brine-well permit upheld
EPA Region V issued Beckman Production Services a Class II Underground Injection Control permit for a commercial brine-disposal well in Livingston County, Michigan. Eight private citizens challenged the permit based on notice and filing issues, the well's security, its proximity to another brine…
Peabody Coal Company
Refuse-pile water citation vacated
MSHA cited Peabody Coal after finding two pools of water on a refuse pile at the Camp 9 Preparation Plant. The Secretary argued that the pools violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.215(e), which prohibits constructing refuse piles so as to impede drainage or impound water. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the…
U. S. Steel Mining Company
Settlement approved with $236 penalty
U. S. Steel Mining Company and the Secretary resolved three civil penalty proceedings involving the Shawnee Mine. The judge approved a settlement that reduced the proposed total from $475 to $236, vacated two citations, and modified another citation to remove its significant-and-substantial…
Cortez Gold Mines,
Cortez Gold Mines (FMSHRC WEST 92-634-M): Pickup-truck parking citation affirmed with reduced penalty
MSHA cited Cortez Gold Mines after an unattended Ford F-150 pickup rolled on a grade without its wheels chocked or turned into a bank. Judge John J. Morris held that 30 C.F.R. § 56.14207 applied to the pickup and that Cortez violated the parking requirement. He struck the…
Novinger's Inc.
Scaffold access item modified and guardrail item affirmed
Novinger's was an interior-finishes subcontractor working inside an air shaft at a building project in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Employees reached a tube-and-coupler scaffold by stepping over a two-inch lip and across a 9.5-inch gap from the third-floor slab. The judge held that the safe-access…
Thomas Lindstrom Company, Inc.
Tag-line citation vacated as infeasible
Thomas Lindstrom was the structural-steel-erection subcontractor for a new Philadelphia medical examiner building. OSHA alleged that the company failed to use tag lines to control steel loads, and the judge held that the standard normally makes tag-line use mandatory. Lindstrom proved that using…
Seifert Construction Co., Inc.
Floor-opening citation reduced to other-than-serious
Seifert Construction conceded that floor depressions at its worksite violated the cited floor-opening standard. The only remaining dispute was whether the violation was serious. The stipulated facts described depressions about eight inches deep, some containing four five-inch bolts, and competing…
City of Port St. Joe, Florida
In re City of Port St. Joe, Florida (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 93-9): appeal dismissed as moot
The City of Port St. Joe sought an evidentiary hearing on an NPDES permit for its wastewater treatment plant. Before the hearing request was resolved, EPA Region IV withdrew the 1990 permit and reopened the permitting process with a new draft permit. The Environmental Appeals Board dismissed the…
R B Coal Company, Inc.,
R B Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 93-244, KENT 93-608): Roof-control violations modified and penalties assessed
MSHA alleged that R B Coal exceeded the 20-foot cut limit in its approved roof-control plan and also sought penalties for a separate order. Judge Gary Melick found that the two deep-cut violations were significant and substantial, but the Secretary did not prove unwarrantable failure because the…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Poddey v. Tanglewood Energy, Inc.
Premature review petition dismissed
The Secretary sought Commission review of an administrative law judge's liability decision in a discrimination case before the judge had issued a final order on damages. The Commission held that the petition was premature and dismissed it without prejudice. The Secretary could file a new petition…
Wyoming Fuel Company
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed
MSHA found hazardous water accumulations throughout parts of Wyoming Fuel's Golden Eagle Mine and alleged that the conditions violated the mine's approved ventilation plan. The Commission held that the plan required pumps to remove water accumulating in sufficient quantity or depth to present a…
Buck Creek Coal Company, Inc.,
Buck Creek Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 93-241): Preshift-examination order modified with $3,000 penalty
MSHA found that three miners entered Buck Creek's underground mine before the required preshift examination had been completed and recorded. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that the maintenance crew was part of the oncoming shift and that the preshift rule applied even though the crew entered during…
Allstate Roofing, Inc.
Willful roof-fall violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Allstate Roofing had about five employees working on a nearly flat roof that measured 200 by 120 feet and was 20 feet above the ground. OSHA observed employees without the fall protection required for built-up roofing work, including one worker who came within about three feet of an unguarded edge…
Ludwig-McIntosh Bulk Haulers, Inc.
Willful eye-protection citation reduced to serious
Ludwig-McIntosh hauled industrial coke and maintained its vehicles in a Toledo shop where drilling, grinding, welding, and coke dust created eye hazards. A mechanic was struck in the eye by a drill bit while his safety glasses were pushed up on his forehead. The judge found conflicting and…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Electrical citations affirmed with reduced penalty findings
MSHA cited FMC Wyoming after an electrician performed work on an energized circuit without locking out and tagging the disconnecting devices and without wearing protective gloves while troubleshooting. Judge John J. Morris affirmed both violations and assessed penalties of $2,000 and $1,000. He…
Texasgulf Inc.
Transformer citation vacated
MSHA cited Texasgulf after finding that a transformer casing was less than three feet from a chain-link fence at the Lee Creek Mine. Judge George A. Koutras held that the cited standard required a substantial fence at least three feet from energized parts, casings, or wiring, but the Secretary did…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Johnson v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Premature review petition dismissed
Jim Walter Resources petitioned for Commission review of an administrative law judge's liability decision in a discrimination case before the judge had issued a final order on damages. The Commission held that the petition was premature and dismissed it without prejudice. Jim Walter could file a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Consolidated electrical and cleanup violations decided
MSHA brought four consolidated proceedings against Consolidation Coal Company involving electrical bonding, coal cleanup, electrical equipment, and examination conditions at the Arkwright No. 1 and Blacksville No. 2 Mines. Judge George A. Koutras found a mix of violations, modifying several orders…
Crown/Vista Energy Project (CVEP) West Deptford, New Jersey
In re Crown/Vista Energy Project (CVEP) West Deptford, New Jersey (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 93-15 through 93-18): review denied
Crown Energy and Vista Energy received a New Jersey PSD permit to construct a 362-megawatt pulverized coal-fired power plant in West Deptford Township. Four petitioners challenged the permit based on pollution controls, air quality and estuary impacts, and volatile organic compound emissions. The…
Peabody Coal Company
Respiratory-dust citations affirmed
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after respirable-dust sampling exceeded the applicable limit on three mechanized mining units at the Camp No. 1 Mine. Peabody conceded that the violations occurred and were significant and substantial, but disputed the findings of unwarrantable failure, high…
Peabody Coal Company
Two electrical citations vacated
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after an inspection at its Camp No. 9 Preparation Plant. The citations concerned a flexible cord used with an exhaust fan and a fan motor that was not explosion-proof. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the evidence did not establish a violation of the National…
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.