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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Secretary of Labor v. Steele Branch Mining
Grader citation affirmed, report citation reversed
Steele Branch Mining was cited after a fatal accident at its surface coal mine for excessive steering-wheel slack on a road grader and for not promptly submitting an accident investigation report. The Commission affirmed the violation of the machinery safety standard because substantial evidence…
Fred Knobel, employed by FKC Incorporated
Mine jurisdiction upheld
The Secretary alleged that Fred Knobel, an officer of FKC Incorporated, was individually liable for an unguarded tail pulley on a portable rock crusher. The parties asked the judge to decide whether MSHA had jurisdiction over the portable crusher before the merits were resolved. Judge August F…
B & F Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Settlement replaces default and reduces penalties to $900
An ALJ dismissed B & F Mechanical's notice of contest and affirmed a citation with $6,300 in proposed penalties after the company failed to respond to orders and did not return a promised settlement agreement. The company's president later explained that an automobile accident, hospitalization…
Philadelphia Construction Equipment, Inc.
Default affirms excavation citations for $16,650
Philadelphia Construction Equipment failed to appear for its scheduled hearing on serious and willful construction citations. After an initial remand gave the company another opportunity, the ALJ rejected its explanation for arriving late and found no good cause to reinstate the case. The record…
Conagra Flour Milling Company
Commission splits flour-mill safety citations and assesses $500
Conagra operated a flour-milling facility in Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, where OSHA cited battery servicing, powered industrial trucks, machine guarding, compressed-air cleaning, and grain-handling practices. The Commission vacated the personal-protective-equipment and eyewash items because OSHA's…
Star Enterprise, Delaware City Refinery
In re Star Enterprise, Delaware City Refinery (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-9): permit modification denied
Star Enterprise operated a land treatment unit at its Delaware City, Delaware petroleum refinery under a temporary state-issued RCRA permit. After EPA newly regulated certain petroleum-refinery sludges and toxicity-characteristic wastes, Star asked EPA to modify the permit so it could continue…
Secretary of Labor v. Curtis Crick, James Bo Jones, and Charley Wright
Individual penalty cases dismissed as untimely
The Secretary sought individual civil penalties against three Island Creek Coal Company agents for an alleged violation involving coal accumulations under 30 C.F.R. § 75.400. The penalty petitions were filed 70 days after the respondents' notices of contest, beyond the 45-day period in Commission…
Hamilton Fixture
Commission upholds expanded inspection and assesses $2,450
Hamilton Fixture manufactured wooden store-display fixtures at a plant in Hamilton, Ohio, with about 350 employees. OSHA began with a union complaint about safety practices and expanded the inspection plant-wide after the compliance officer calculated a lost-workday injury rate about three times…
Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc./Yonkers Contracting Co., Inc., A Joint Venture
Willful lead-protection violations draw $40,000
A Morrison-Knudsen and Yonkers Contracting joint venture used cutting torches to demolish a lead-painted bridge in New York City, exposing employees to hazardous airborne lead. The Commission held that the construction air-contaminant standards applied alongside the more specific welding and…
Fred L. Peters v. Twentymile Coal Company, Daryl Firestone, and Cyprus Minerals Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Fred Peters alleged that Twentymile Coal Company and its supervisors discriminated against him after he reported shuttle-car brake, ventilation, and electrical problems and later complained to MSHA. Judge John J. Morris found that Peters engaged in protected activity but that the disciplinary…
Little Rock Quarry Company, Incorporated
Dismissal affirmed after remand
The Commission had vacated an earlier dismissal and remanded the case so the Secretary could explain why the prosecution had not complied with prehearing orders. The Secretary argued that the parties had informally settled the matter and that the case should proceed on that basis. Judge Michael A…
Oneida Coal Company, Inc.
Settlement approved for $10,020
Oneida Coal Company faced a civil-penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. At the hearing, the Secretary moved to approve a settlement and dismiss the case, and Oneida agreed to pay the proposed $10,020 penalty in full. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement appropriate under the statutory penalty…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-7): dispute procedure remanded
General Electric challenged EPA Region I's authority to revise reports and proposals that defined corrective-action work at its Pittsfield, Massachusetts facility. The company argued that revisions to these interim submissions were formal permit modifications and that it was entitled to notice and…
Consolidation Coal Company
Sanitation citation modified in settlement
Consolidation Coal agreed to settle one citation alleging that a bathroom at its preparation plant was not maintained in sanitary condition. The proposed settlement reduced the original $227 penalty to $175 and modified the citation to make the likelihood of injury unlikely and remove the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Samuel Coble v. Christian Coal Corporation
Settlement hearing continued
The parties told Judge Jerold Feldman that they had reached an agreement in a Mine Act discrimination case involving Samuel Coble, but the judge had not received a signed settlement motion. He continued the matter while awaiting that filing and warned that, if the motion was not filed by April 9…
Roy Farmer and others v. Island Creek Coal Company
Compensation claims dismissed
Miners sought compensation for time they were idled by two imminent-danger orders at Island Creek's VP-3 Mine. The Commission later affirmed the underlying decision vacating those orders and a related citation. Judge George A. Koutras lifted the stay on the compensation claims after that Commission…
Top Kat Mining, Inc., W-P Coal Company, and Bear Run Coal, Inc.
Citation and order vacated
The Secretary pursued penalties against Top Kat Mining, W-P Coal Company, and Bear Run Coal after a bathhouse-floor citation at the No. 21 Mine. Top Kat and Bear Run were dismissed because service was not completed. Judge Gary Melick found that W-P was an operator as an owner and lessee, but that…
Cyprus Tonopah Mining Corporation
Remand penalty reduced to $500
The Commission remanded a ground-condition violation for penalty reassessment after finding that Cyprus Tonopah Mining's conduct was not an unwarrantable failure. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the operator was still negligent because it allowed work and travel in an area with hazardous…
Arrow Crushed Stone, Inc.
Brake citation affirmed and other citations settled
Arrow Crushed Stone faced 15 alleged violations at its quarry. The judge approved a settlement for all but one citation, reducing the related penalties and removing significant-and-substantial designations from several citations. For the remaining citation, involving a front-end loader whose brakes…
Ludvik Electric
Unguarded platform citation dismissed under multi-employer defense
A Ludvik Electric employee fell to his death from an unguarded equipment-support deck at a Colorado construction site. The judge found that the deck was a covered work platform and that Ludvik could have anticipated employee use of it. Ludvik did not create or control the missing guardrails because…
Double "B" Mining, Inc.
Settlement approved with $3,382 penalty
Double "B" Mining, Inc. operated Mine No. 32 and faced civil penalty proceedings in two Southeast dockets. The parties jointly requested a settlement, citing the operator's financial difficulty. Judge Roy J. Maurer found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria and reduced…
Delaware Valley Landscape Incorporated
Seat-belt violations affirmed after settlement
Delaware Valley Landscape Incorporated operated the Delaware Valley Landscape Stone mine and faced two seat-belt violations involving haulage trucks. The judge approved a settlement that changed both section 104(d)(1) actions to section 104(a) S&S citations, while affirming the underlying…
Madison Branch Management, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Ernie L. Spaulding alleged that Madison Branch Management did not hire him as a bulldozer operator because of his past work record and prior union activity. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that Spaulding did not prove he engaged in activity protected by the Mine Act. Because protected activity is a…
Energy West Mining Company
Mine-site injury had to be reported
Energy West Mining Company contested a citation for failing to report a miner's injury under 30 C.F.R. § 50.20. The miner was injured while driving his personal car on mine property before his shift, and the injury kept him from working the next day. The Commission held that the injury was…
Oneida Coal Co., Inc.
Settlement addendum modifies negligence findings
Oneida Coal Company, Inc. and the Secretary of Labor submitted an addendum describing their settlement of a civil penalty proceeding involving Oneida Mine No. 1. Under the agreement, the Secretary would change the negligence finding from moderate to none on Citation No. 3309235. The Secretary would…
S & H Mining, Incorporated
Violations split, S&S findings reduced, and settlements approved
S & H Mining faced three consolidated dockets involving coal dust accumulations, directional control, escapeway water, and related conditions at its mine. Judge Gary Melick approved settlements in two dockets, vacated two citations, affirmed two violations without S&S findings, and assessed the…
Joseph B. Fay Co.
Bridge-edge fall citation vacated
Joseph P. Fay Company was removing a bridge deck in Columbia, New Jersey. OSHA alleged that two employees walked within a few feet of an unguarded bridge edge more than 25 feet above the ground. The judge found that the compliance officer could not reliably identify the workers as Fay employees and…
Potomac Iron Works, Inc.
Roof-edge fall protection violation affirmed
Potomac Iron Works performed steel erection work on a building in Washington, D.C. OSHA observed an employee signaling a crane at the roof edge about 68 feet above the ground without effective fall protection. The employee wore a safety belt and lanyard but was not tied off, and his superintendent…
Lancaster Colony Corp., Candle Lite
Fatality-reporting violation affirmed with reduced penalty
A Candle-Lite employee was injured while operating a forklift and died twelve days later from a condition the death certificate attributed to the workplace accident. The company did not report the death to OSHA until an outside recordkeeping review identified the omission several months later. The…
Piping of Ohio, Inc.
Trenching violations affirmed, willful item reclassified as repeated
Piping of Ohio was replacing a water line in two excavations at an Ohio steel plant. The judge found that employees lacked adequate trench-safety instruction, did not have a safe means of exit, and were not protected by inspections from a qualified competent person. The judge also found that the…
LAD Mining Incorporated, Larry Flynn and Ronald Calhuon
LAD Mining Incorporated, Larry Flynn and Ronald Calhoun (FMSHRC SE 92-181-D): Discrimination liability found, remedies reserved
The Secretary alleged that LAD Mining, Larry Flynn, and Ronald Calhoun refused to hire Jerry Lee Dotson because of his safety complaints and earlier Mine Act discrimination complaint. Judge David F. Barbour found that Dotson engaged in protected activity, that Calhoun knew about it and sought to…
Spurlock Mining Company, Inc. and Sarah Ashley Mining Co., Inc.
Penalties upheld for out-of-business operators
Spurlock Mining Company and Sarah Ashley Mining Company were assessed penalties for 13 and 76 violations, respectively. Both operators were small companies that had stopped doing business, and the judge rejected their claim that the penalties would affect their ability to continue operating. Judge…
Waldon Health Care Center & ARA Woodlake Nursing Home
Hepatitis B citations vacated
ARA Living Centers operated the Waldon Health Care Center in Louisiana and the Woodlake Nursing Home in Texas. OSHA alleged that nurses and nursing assistants faced hepatitis B transmission through contact with blood or other bodily fluids and proposed offering the vaccine to exposed employees…
Asarco Incorporated
Penalty case stayed pending contest appeal
Asarco answered the Secretary's civil-penalty petition and asked to consolidate it with a related notice of contest pending before the Commission in WEST 92-624-RM. Judge Paul Merlin denied consolidation because the penalty matter had not yet been heard or decided at the trial level. He stayed the…
Peabody Coal Company
Citations affirmed and $28,500 settlement approved
Peabody Coal's Camp 11 Mine was cited after Raymond Brown suffered fatal chest injuries when a remotely operated scoop's service brake failed and pinned him against a roof bolter. The case involved a brake-system citation and imminent-danger order, two additional brake citations, and…
Reid v. Kiah Creek Mining Company
Settlement approved and proceeding dismissed
Reid brought a Mine Act discrimination proceeding against Kiah Creek Mining Company. Administrative Law Judge Avram Weisburger had found that Reid had not established a violation under section 105(c), but the parties entered a settlement two days after the decision was issued. The Commission…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Railroad preemption issue remanded for evidence
Consolidated Rail Corporation moved to dismiss OSHA citations arising from railroad-bridge repair and maintenance work, arguing that Federal Railroad Administration regulation preempted OSHA under section 4(b)(1) of the OSH Act. The Commission held that the FRA's policy statement did not displace…
L.E. Myers Company
Four willful power-line violations affirmed for $30,000
L.E. Myers Company was replacing utility poles and lines near Napoleon, Ohio, while 12,470-volt lines remained energized. An apprentice was fatally electrocuted when a boom or its conductive steel cable contacted or approached an energized line while he handled the cable from the ground. The…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Imminent-danger finding vacated and citation affirmed
An MSHA inspector observed an employee crossing from a sand dredge to shore in a jon boat without a life jacket or belt. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that this violated the life-jacket standard, but held that the danger was no longer imminent when the employee stood on dry land and that the Secretary…
Consolidation Coal Company
Fuse-holder citation modified and settlements approved
Consolidation Coal settled citations in four dockets and 12 of the 13 citations in a fifth docket. The only fully litigated issue involved a damaged fuse holder on a mine jeep, which the Secretary said could expose riders to burns or create a collision hazard if power failed. Judge Jerold Feldman…
Maple Meadow Mining Company
Settlement reduced penalty and gravity finding
Maple Meadow Mining Company was cited for accumulations of loose coal and coal dust in several mine locations. The Secretary initially proposed a $4,200 penalty and alleged that a fatality was highly likely, while the company disputed the gravity assessment. Judge George A. Koutras approved a…
Martin Sales & Processing
Summary default decision later vacated
Martin Sales & Processing failed to answer the Secretary's discovery requests and did not comply with orders directing it to respond. Judge George A. Koutras found the operator in default and entered summary default judgment for the Secretary on four consolidated dockets. The order directed…
Mountaintop Restoration, Inc.
$7,732 settlement approved
Mountaintop Restoration and the Secretary jointly moved to settle two civil-penalty proceedings, citing the company's financial condition. The proposed assessments totaled $10,954, and Judge Roy J. Maurer approved a settlement requiring $7,732 in 18 equal monthly installments. One citation was…
R.E. Reynolds, Inc.
Masonry-site violations affirmed with reduced cord penalty
R.E. Reynolds was the masonry subcontractor on a hotel and pool-building project at Disney World in Florida. The judge affirmed four serious items involving an extension cord exposed to vehicle damage, an unguarded pit, uncapped reinforcing steel, and the absence of a limited access zone around a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial settlements approved at $599 and duplicate citations dismissed
Consolidation Coal Company resolved part of an eleven-violation docket involving its Dilworth Mine. Judge Paul Merlin approved settlements for five violations totaling $599. Four other citations were dismissed because they duplicated citations already included in docket PENN 91-1462. A prior…
Consolidation Coal Company
Four violations settled for $937 with two citation modifications
Consolidation Coal Company agreed to settle four violations at its Dilworth Mine. The original penalties totaled $1,086, and the approved settlement required payment of $937. Judge Paul Merlin reduced the injury classification for the untagged power-circuit plug citation from fatal to permanently…
Adena Fuels, Incorporated
Gary L. Day v. Adena Fuels, Incorporated (FMSHRC KENT 92-547-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed under settlement
Gary L. Day brought a discrimination complaint against Adena Fuels, Incorporated involving the Diamond No. 1 Mine. The parties reached a settlement and jointly moved to dismiss the complaint. Judge David Barbour found no reason to deny the motion and dismissed the matter. The settlement agreement…
Nello Santacroce & Dominic Fanelli d/b/a Gilroy Associates
In re Nello Santacroce & Dominic Fanelli d/b/a Gilroy Associates (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 92-6): complaint dismissed
EPA Region IX alleged that Nello Santacroce and Dominic Fanelli, doing business as Gilroy Associates, violated Toxic Substances Control Act requirements for a PCB transformer at their storage facility and recreational vehicle park in Gilroy, California. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the…
Peabody Coal Company
Deep-cut ventilation dispute remanded for suitability determination
Peabody Coal operated two underground Kentucky coal mines that used deep-cut continuous mining. MSHA cited the company for operating without approved ventilation plans after requiring provisions for ventilating deep cuts during roof bolting. The Commission held that the provision was mine specific…
Buck Mountain Coal Company
Post-accident withdrawal order affirmed
Buck Mountain Coal Company's anthracite mine experienced a methane explosion that burned three miners and led MSHA to issue a section 103(k) withdrawal order covering the underground workings. The company challenged the order and objected to MSHA's conditions requiring continuous fan operation…
City and County of San Francisco (Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility and Southwest Ocean Outfall)
In re City and County of San Francisco (Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility and Southwest Ocean Outfall) (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 91-18): mass limits remanded
Coastal Advocates and the Sierra Club challenged EPA Region IX's NPDES permit for San Francisco's Oceanside wastewater treatment facility and Southwest Ocean Outfall. They argued that the Westside Transport was a publicly owned treatment works, that the permit lacked adequate technology-based…
Monterey Coal Company
Cable citation modified to non-S&S with $125 penalty
Monterey Coal Company contested a citation alleging that a trailing cable at its No. 1 Mine was not protected from mobile equipment. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the cable's placement exposed it to possible repeated vehicle contact and therefore violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.606. He concluded that…
Western Plains Construction
Unprotected trench violation affirmed
Western Plains Construction was installing storm sewer pipe in a trench in Tulsa, Oklahoma. OSHA found the south end of the trench about 9 feet 6 inches deep with vertical, unprotected walls. The company argued that the condition resulted from unpreventable misconduct by its superintendent, but the…
Cyprus Tonopah Mining Corp.
Ground-control violations affirmed with one unwarrantable-failure finding reversed
Cyprus Tonopah Mining operated an open-pit molybdenum mine where MSHA cited loose ground, unstable walls, and inadequate benches in the Pushback One pit. The Commission affirmed both underlying violations, including the finding that the mine's bench-maintenance violation was caused by unwarrantable…
UMWA o/b/o Nelson v. Secretary of Labor
UMWA on behalf of Dan Nelson and others (FMSHRC SE 88-92-D and SE 88-93-D): Discrimination complaints dismissed after settlement
The United Mine Workers of America filed two discrimination complaints alleging that MSHA officials failed to protect the confidentiality of miners who reported safety violations. The union sought an order stopping disclosure of miners' names to mine operators and requested civil penalties under…
Chico Crushed Stone Partnership
Highwall scaling citation and withdrawal order vacated
Chico Crushed Stone was cited after an inspector observed loose material on an 80-to-100-foot highwall at the company's limestone plant. The Secretary alleged that the highwall had not been scaled and issued a related withdrawal order for failure to abate. Judge Gary Melick found that muck at the…
Metro Power, d/b/a Gibson Electric
Floor-opening item affirmed, breaker-panel item vacated
Metro Power, doing business as Gibson Electric, was the electrical subcontractor on a youth facility construction project in Georgia. The judge affirmed a ground-fault circuit interrupter violation because the outlet serving drink and ice machines did not have functioning protection, but classified…
Stone Container Corp.
Boiler-area protective equipment citation vacated
Stone Container operated a paper and linerboard mill with a black liquor recovery boiler in Montana. A boiler explosion burned three employees, and one employee later died from the injuries. OSHA cited the company for not requiring protective clothing and self-contained respirators during boiler…
Pyramid Mining, Incorporated
Training violation modified to non-S&S with $20 penalty
Pyramid Mining assigned an employee to operate a modified bulldozer and conveyor, called a stacker, before his task training was complete. Judge Avram Weisberger found a violation of the training standard because the employee began operating the equipment before receiving all required instruction…
Odessa Union Warehouse Co-op, Inc.
In re Odessa Union Warehouse Co-op, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 93-1): commercial applicator classification affirmed
Odessa Union Warehouse Co-op, Inc. stores and markets grain for its farmer-members and applies pesticides to the grain when necessary. EPA Region X alleged that Odessa violated pesticide-label requirements while fumigating and shipping grain, and proposed a penalty based on treating Odessa as a…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.