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 o/b/o Buelke v. Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation
Temporary reinstatement affirmed
Robert Buelke, an electrician at Santa Fe Pacific Gold’s Rabbit Creek Mine, reported safety concerns involving the mine’s electrical system and was discharged a second time after returning to work under an earlier temporary reinstatement order. The Secretary alleged that the second discharge was…
Adcom Wire, d/b/a Adcom Wire Company
In re Adcom Wire, d/b/a Adcom Wire Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-2): review denied
Adcom Wire challenged corrective-action requirements in the federal portion of its RCRA permit for a wire-manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The company argued that its rinse water was not hazardous waste stored after RCRA regulations took effect, that the state-issued portion of its…
Miners Advocacy Council
In re Miners Advocacy Council (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 91-23): overburden discharges remanded for permit review
The Miners Advocacy Council challenged 31 NPDES permits issued by EPA Region X to Alaska placer miners. The dispute concerned whether a permit could authorize discharges from sluicing while excluding discharges from hydraulic removal of overburden at the same mine. The Environmental Appeals Board…
Farmer v. Island Creek Coal Co.
Late compensation complaint allowed to proceed
Roy Farmer, a miners’ representative, filed a compensation complaint for about 275 miners who were idled after MSHA issued an imminent-danger order at Island Creek Coal’s Virginia Pocahontas No. 3 Mine. Island Creek argued that the complaint was filed after the 90-day period in Commission…
Cimetta Engineering Contractors
Discrimination complaint dismissed for failure to respond
Bruce A. Williams filed a discrimination complaint under section 105(c) of the Mine Act against Cimetta Engineering Contractors. The Commission asked Williams to provide additional information, but he did not respond to the request or to a later show cause order, which was returned as unclaimed…
Sequoyah Fuels Corporation
In re Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 91-12): permit review denied
Sequoyah Fuels Corporation operated a uranium processing plant and used treated wastewater as raffinate fertilizer in a separate farming and ranching operation in Gore, Oklahoma. Native Americans for a Clean Environment sought an evidentiary hearing and argued that the land application should be…
Saturn Materials, Inc., Black Gold Coal Company, and Talbert Ball
Discrimination case dismissed after settlement withdrawal
Lonnie D. Mullins asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against Saturn Materials, Black Gold Coal Company, and Talbert Ball under a settlement agreement resolving the disputed claims. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under the Commission’s procedural rules and…
Ten-A-Coal Company
Terminated citation modification approved and case remanded
Ten-A-Coal operated the Ward Mine, where an inspector cited unsafe highwall conditions and later modified a terminated section 104(a) citation into a section 104(d)(1) order after consulting a supervisor. The judge had ruled that a citation could not be modified after termination, affirmed the…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Permissibility citation affirmed
FMC Wyoming Corporation was cited after an excessive gap was found in the cover plate of a continuous miner’s master control box at the FMC Trona Mine. The ALJ found that the condition violated the permissibility requirements, but concluded that the Secretary did not prove the violation was…
Wyoming Fuel Company
Imminent-danger rulings remanded
Wyoming Fuel Company operated the Golden Eagle underground coal mine, where MSHA issued citations and imminent-danger orders after inspectors found methane near sealed areas. The ALJ vacated the citations and orders, including a citation concerning work allegedly contrary to an imminent-danger…
Asarco, Inc.
Discovery order partly reversed
Asarco operates the Immel underground zinc mine, where an electrician was fatally injured after contacting an energized 4,160-volt terminal. The Secretary cited alleged violations involving deenergization and electrical clearance, and the parties later disputed discovery of MSHA investigative…
Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Non-S&S finding affirmed
Shamrock Coal Company was cited after four miners working underground were not provided enough self-contained self-rescuers under the mine’s firefighting and evacuation program. The judge found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1101-23, but concluded it was not significant and substantial because the…
Beech Fork Processing, Inc.
Non-S&S findings affirmed
Beech Fork Processing was cited twice after firefighting equipment at its mine was not maintained in usable and operative condition. The judge found that the violations of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1100-3 were not significant and substantial because the evidence did not show that a fire was reasonably likely…
Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Non-S&S findings affirmed
Shamrock Coal Company was cited for inadequate rock dust and defects in water spray and fire-warning systems at its underground coal mine. The ALJ found violations of 30 C.F.R. §§ 75.403, 75.1101-1(a), and 75.1101-10, but concluded they were not significant and substantial because the evidence did…
Chartwell Corporation
Dismissal affirmed after missed filing deadline
OSHA cited Chartwell Corporation and issued a failure-to-abate notice with proposed penalties totaling $12,600. The judge ordered the Secretary to file either a complaint or an executed settlement agreement by November 15, 1991. The Secretary filed neither, so the judge vacated the citations and…
Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, Inc.
Concrete-formwork citations against engineer vacated
Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger provided structural-design and consulting services for a laboratory-building project where metal decking collapsed during a two-layer concrete pour. OSHA cited SGH for allegedly inadequate formwork support and missing shoring plans. The Commission held that design and…
Kulka Construction Management Corp.
Construction manager held liable for fall hazards
Kulka Construction Management managed a three-story office-building project without performing construction trade labor itself. The Commission found that Kulka substantially supervised the work because it coordinated contractors, acted as the owner's on-site representative, addressed safety…
Hackney Brighton Corporation
Exit and cylinder-storage violations reinstated
Hackney Brighton fabricated steel pressure vessels at a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, facility. One designated exit was four feet above the floor with no stairs or ramp, and an acetylene cylinder delivered late in the day remained overnight in the oxygen-cylinder storage area. The judge vacated both…
LJ's Corporation
Citation reinstated and $20 penalty assessed
LJ's Corporation was cited after records at its contracted mine rescue station showed that mine rescue apparatus had not been inspected and tested within the required 30-day interval. The ALJ dismissed the citation because the records did not by themselves prove that the testing had not occurred…
Energy Fuels Coal, Inc.
Discovery stayed
Energy Fuels Coal asked the ALJ to require the Secretary to answer case-specific discovery requests served during proceedings under Master Docket 91-1. Judge James A. Broderick denied the Secretary’s protective-order motion because the requests were case-specific and were not untimely under the…
Asarco Mining Company
Ground-support citation upheld
Asarco Mining Company contested a citation alleging that ground support was not installed along the ribs of a haulage drift at its Troy Unit. The citation followed an MSHA investigation of unstable ground near an area where a miner had been fatally struck by falling material, although the ALJ found…
Marin v. Asarco, Inc.
Sanctions denied
Francis Marin, a haulage truck driver, filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Asarco after her employment ended and later withdrew the Commission proceeding to pursue related claims in state court. Asarco sought sanctions, alleging that Marin had filed a frivolous case and abused…
Brush Wellman, Inc. Elmore, Ohio Facility
In re Brush Wellman, Inc., Elmore, Ohio Facility (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-17): permit review denied
Brush Wellman operated a hazardous-waste facility in Elmore, Ohio. It challenged the RCRA permit’s treatment of solid waste management units and argued that the permit gave too little time for investigation, corrective-measures, and implementation work. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to compel partly granted
Contestants in the respirable dust sample alteration master docket sought documents from the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General concerning an investigation into alleged tampering with coal-dust sample cassettes. Judge James A. Broderick denied most requests to compel production…
Vincent Braithwaite v. Tri-Star Mining, Inc.
Discriminatory discharge found
Vincent Braithwaite worked at Tri-Star Mining’s strip mine and refused to operate a large rock truck because he believed he was not properly trained to do so safely. Judge William Fauver found that Braithwaite communicated a good-faith safety concern and that the company discharged him instead of…
Consolidation Coal Company
Mixed settlements and findings resolve coal mine violations
Consolidation Coal agreed to settlements in several penalty proceedings, and Judge Avram Weisberger approved them after considering the Mine Act penalty criteria. In a separate group of cases, the judge found that damaged or inoperative coal-car uncoupling devices created a significant and…
LJ'S Coal Corporation
Unreported roof fall violation found significant and substantial on remand
LJ'S Coal Corporation failed to report a roof fall as required by 30 C.F.R. § 50.10, and a roof-bolting machine became trapped in the fallen area. On remand from the Commission, Judge Avram Weisberger examined each part of the Mathies test for a significant and substantial violation. He found that…
Bethenergy Mines, Incorporated
Discovery motion denied as untimely
Contestants in the respirable-dust sample alteration citation proceedings asked Judge James A. Broderick to compel the Secretary of Labor to answer discovery requests. The judge found that the motion was filed after the deadlines in the Commission-approved discovery plan and its later amendments…
Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation
Temporary reinstatement ordered after second discharge
Robert W. Buelke, an electrician at Santa Fe Pacific Gold’s Rabbit Creek Mine, was discharged for a second time after making safety complaints and being involved in disputes about electrical work and attendance. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary had made the required minimal showing…
Jewell Smokeless Coal Corporation
Late black-lung report affirmed with $20 penalty
Jewell Smokeless Coal Corporation reported an employee’s alleged black-lung illness to MSHA about two years after the company received medical reports diagnosing pneumoconiosis. Judge George A. Koutras found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 50.20(a), which required the occupational illness to…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Safeguard notice vacated for failing to identify the hazard
MSHA issued Southern Ohio Coal a safeguard notice requiring at least 36 inches of combined side clearance for rubber-tired haulage equipment operating beside supply cars. On remand, Judge James A. Broderick found that the notice was based on the inspector’s observations and addressed real hazards…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Privilege rulings order limited document disclosure
Judge James A. Broderick addressed discovery and privilege issues in the consolidated respirable-dust sample alteration citation proceedings after a Commission remand. He ordered the Secretary to disclose several draft technical reports and related materials because the contestants needed them to…
Magma Copper Company, Pinto Valley Division
Default order vacated and remanded
Magma Copper failed to file its answer with the Commission in a civil penalty case, and the Chief Administrative Law Judge entered a default order assessing the Secretary’s proposed $20 penalty. Magma said it was representing itself and had sent its answer and response to the Department of Labor’s…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Full-scope inspection warrant upheld
Trinity manufactured tanks and pressure vessels at a Sharonville, Ohio, facility. After an employee complaint, OSHA obtained a warrant authorizing a limited complaint inspection, a records review, and a full-scope inspection if neutral administrative-plan criteria were met. The facility's…
Conagra Flour Milling Co. & Its Successors
Flour-mill electrical and blowdown violations affirmed
Conagra operated a seven-story flour mill in Sherman, Texas, where combustible grain dust made the milling floors Class II, Division 2 hazardous locations. The Commission affirmed serious violations for using a grain tester and pedestal fan with exposed motor components that did not meet the…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Ventilation citations affirmed without S&S findings
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal challenged three citations alleging that preshift examinations did not check air passing by openings to abandoned mine areas before that air mixed with other intake air. Judge Roy J. Maurer held that 30 C.F.R. § 75.311 required the examinations at or immediately inby the…
Pride Oil Well Service
Respirator and tank-warning violations affirmed
Pride Oil Well Service employees monitored fluids entering a mobile storage tank while nitrogen used in the well displaced oxygen in the tank. One employee lost consciousness and fell into the tank, and another entered in an attempted rescue; both died from asphyxia due to drowning in the tank…
Thunder Basin Coal Company
Discrimination proceedings dismissed for failure to comply with discovery
Thunder Basin Coal Company faced two Mine Act discrimination proceedings involving Donald L. Gregory and Loy D. Peters at the Black Thunder Mine. The judge had ordered the Secretary of Labor to respond to discovery requests for statements and other documents concerning the complainants'…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Common citation issues consolidated for trial
This master docket covered approximately 4,000 citations alleging that respirable dust filter cassettes had been altered at underground coal mines, surface facilities, and mines with special protections for miners who had evidence of pneumoconiosis. Judge James A. Broderick consolidated the cases…
Bottom Coal Co., Inc.
Dust-sample cases settled for $39,185
The order covered multiple consolidated contest and civil-penalty proceedings involving 35 citations alleging violations of the respirable dust sample rule at several coal mines. The Secretary alleged deliberate alteration of dust filter media, while the operators maintained that dust could have…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Four citations affirmed and $224 penalty assessed
Walker Stone Company operated a small stone mine and portable plant. The judge affirmed one citation for dry vegetation within 25 feet of explosive-material magazines and three significant and substantial citations for conveyor tail-pulley guards that could not withstand normal operating…
New Hope Company of Kentucky, Inc., L & R Contractors, Inc. and Reece Lemar
Discrimination case settled and dismissed
The Secretary of Labor and miner Earl Shackleford asked the judge to approve a settlement of a discrimination complaint and related civil-penalty petition. New Hope Company of Kentucky, L & R Contractors, and Reece Lemar agreed to pay Shackleford $20,000 in 40 weekly installments of $500, while…
C & H Mining Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered for two miners
C & H Mining Company employed Wayne Kizziah and Roger Kizziah as truck drivers at its Alabama mine. After MSHA investigated a discrimination complaint, the company ended Sunday loading for truck drivers and reduced the brothers’ pay, while other drivers kept the prior compensation plan. The…
Texas Industries, Incorporated
Amended order corrected civil penalty deadline
This amended order replaced an earlier order in a civil-penalty proceeding involving Texas Industries’ Tin Top Sand and Gravel Plant. Judge Gary Melick stated that the amendment corrected a clerical error and ordered Texas Industries to pay a $556 civil penalty within 30 days of the amended order…
Mesquite Construction, Inc.
Settlement severed from active case
Mesquite Construction's two cases had been consolidated, but the parties' settlement agreement covered only docket 92-0203. A clerical error caused the judge's final order and the Commission's docketing notice to include docket 92-0317 as well. The Commission severed docket 92-0317, struck it from…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to compel production granted in part
This supplemental order addressed contestants’ request for excised portions of documents concerning MSHA’s respirable dust sample alteration investigation. Judge James A. Broderick held that some notes and calendar entries were protected by deliberative-process, work-product, investigative, or…
Peabody Coal Company
Unwarrantable coal-dust violation affirmed
Peabody Coal operated an underground coal mine where an MSHA inspector found extensive accumulations of loose coal and coal dust around a conveyor transfer point. Similar accumulation problems had been recorded in seven of the eight prior preshift examinations, but the condition was not adequately…
Wyman-Gordon Company
Record-access items become final under appellate settlement
The Secretary appealed part of the Commission's December 1991 Wyman-Gordon decision to the First Circuit. During the appeal, Wyman-Gordon agreed to withdraw its contest to three instances alleging violations of the employee-record-access standard. Those citation portions became final orders by…
Terra Energy Ltd
In re Terra Energy Ltd (EAB UIC Appeal No. 92-3): permit review denied
Terra Energy sought a Class II underground injection control permit for a well in Oscoda County, Michigan, to dispose of salt water from oil production wells. Joan C. Wummel, who owned nearby property, objected based on possible effects on property values, lakes, wetlands, and contamination risks…
Pollution Control Industries of Indiana, Inc.
In re Pollution Control Industries of Indiana, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-3): TCLP review denied
Pollution Control Industries of Indiana operated a hazardous-waste fuel blending and storage facility in East Chicago, Indiana. Its RCRA permit required testing incoming waste streams using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. The company argued that the testing was unnecessary and was…
BethEnergy Mines, Inc., et al.
Violation and individual liability affirmed, S&S finding reversed
BethEnergy miners entered an area where roof-support beams had been installed but not yet strapped, after danger signs had been posted. The Commission affirmed the violation of the mine examination and danger-sign standard, the finding of unwarrantable failure, and individual liability for three…
City of Jacksonville, District II Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re City of Jacksonville, District II Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 91-19): review denied
The City of Jacksonville sought review of EPA Region IV's denial of an evidentiary hearing concerning biomonitoring conditions in the proposed NPDES permit for its District II wastewater treatment plant. The permit required toxicity testing and treated a single test showing lethality to more than…
LJ's Coal Corporation
Roof-control violation reversed to S&S and accident-reporting issue remanded
LJ’s Coal was conducting retreat mining when its pillar-extraction work departed from the approved roof-control plan, leaving parts of the last open crosscut without the required support. The Commission held that the failure to place roof supports in the required locations was significant and…
John Fugurski, employed by Consolidation Coal Company
Knowing roof-support violations not proven
John Fugurski and Ernie Kapiskosky were Consolidation Coal supervisors at the Shoemaker Mine. After a coal-car derailment dislodged steel legs supporting a false roof, MSHA alleged that the supervisors knowingly violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.202(a) by allowing travel through the area before all support…
Clinchfield Coal Company
Discrimination proceeding dismissed after settlement
Gary Honaker asked to dismiss his discrimination proceeding against Clinchfield Coal Company based on a settlement. Judge William Fauver granted the request and dismissed the proceeding. The short order does not state the settlement terms or address the merits of the discrimination allegations.
Wayne Kizziah and Roger Kizziah v. C & H Mining Company, Inc.
Settled discrimination complaint dismissed
Wayne Kizziah and Roger Kizziah asked to withdraw their discrimination complaint against C & H Mining Company after the parties reached a settlement. The miners approved the settlement, and the decision states that full payment had been made. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw under…
Overland Sand & Gravel Company
Mixed guarding and handrail findings, $219 assessed
Overland Sand & Gravel operated open-pit sand and gravel mines in Nebraska. Judge David F. Barbour found violations involving unguarded pinch points, a slack handrail on a floating dredge, and a walkway without handrails. He found several violations significant and substantial, but found that the…
Z C A Mines, Incorporated
Seat-belt citation modified to non-S&S
Z C A Mines employee Ronald Mashaw operated a front-end loader without wearing an available seat belt. The operator accepted that the seat-belt standard was violated but challenged the inspector's significant-and-substantial finding. Judge Avram Weisberger found that nearby traffic, loose ore, and…
Warren Steen Construction, Inc.
Power-line violations and penalties affirmed
Warren Steen Construction operated a sand and gravel mine where a stacker-conveyor contacted an energized 12,000-volt power line while being moved, killing miner Gary Jobe. The Commission affirmed findings that the operator violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.12071 by operating equipment within the required…
Farrens Tree Surgeons, Inc.
Roadside PPE citation vacated for insufficient proof
Farrens Tree Surgeons employees were placing cones and warning signs beside a two-lane highway before clearing brush under power lines. One employee was struck and killed by a driver who was blinded by the rising sun. OSHA cited Farrens because the crew was not wearing brightly colored vests or…
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.