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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Eagle Nest, Incorporated
Water-accumulation S&S finding remanded
Eagle Nest's underground coal mine had water accumulations in a longwall tailgate return entry that miners had to travel for weekly examinations. An ALJ found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.305 but concluded it was not significant and substantial because an examiner could walk cautiously around…
Thermal Reduction Company, Inc.
In re Thermal Reduction Company, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 91-2): default order affirmed
Thermal Reduction Company, Inc. appealed a Default Order imposing a $34,000 civil penalty for alleged violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The company argued that it was not the entity intended to receive the complaint and that it did not commit the reported…
Mid-Continent Resources, Incorporated
Settlement approved in bankruptcy case
Mid-Continent Resources reached a settlement with the Secretary in a civil penalty proceeding involving Citation No. 3411282. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $950 to $570, and Mid-Continent reported that it was operating as a debtor-in-possession in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Judge John…
Waste Technologies Industries East Liverpool, Ohio (Consolidated Appeal Nos.)
In re Waste Technologies Industries East Liverpool, Ohio (Consolidated Appeal Nos.) (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 92-7, et alia): review denied in part and remand ordered
Waste Technologies Industries operated a commercial hazardous-waste management facility in East Liverpool, Ohio. EPA Region 5 approved a permit modification allowing WTI to add a spray dryer to its pollution-control equipment, but also tried to add the landowner, the Port Authority for Columbiana…
AMR Services Company
Airport ground-services settlement approved
AMR Services provided aircraft ground support at Atlanta's airport, where a wingwalker wearing dark clothing was struck and killed by an AMR fuel truck during nighttime operations. OSHA cited AMR for not providing reflective clothing. The judge vacated the citation, finding that the FAA's exercise…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Forklift-training item vacated for insufficient proof
Trinity used five forklifts at its San Antonio steel-fabrication plant, operated by employees with 15 to 30 years of experience. OSHA alleged that Trinity had not devised adequate methods to train those operators. The record showed that management monitored operator proficiency and that a…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Interlocutory review granted on FRA preemption
OSHA cited Conrail after inspecting employees performing maintenance and repair work on a railroad bridge in Ohio. Conrail moved to dismiss, arguing that the Federal Railroad Administration had exercised authority over railroad-bridge safety and therefore preempted OSHA. The judge denied that…
Vergona Crane Co., Inc.
Crane lessor liable for broken boom stop
Vergona Crane supplied a crane, operator, and oiler to a construction contractor under a bare-rental arrangement. The Commission treated Vergona and its closely related affiliate as a single entity and found that Vergona remained the workers' employer because it controlled how the crane was…
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company
In re Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (EAB PSD Appeal No. 92-1): review denied
James V. Williamson, a private citizen, challenged a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit issued by the State of Hawaii to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company. The permit covered construction of a 30 MW circulating fluidized bed boiler at the Puunene Mill Facility on Maui, designed to…
Shannopin Mining Company
Shuttle-car citation vacated and three settlements approved
Shannopin Mining was cited after an inspector found a shuttle car with a forward-leaning canopy and two broken welds. Judge George A. Koutras found that MSHA did not prove the canopy was unsafe under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(a), so he vacated the contested citation and denied its penalty. The parties…
Medzam, Ltd.
In re Medzam, Ltd. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 91-1): default order vacated and complaint dismissed
Medzam, Ltd. appealed a Default Order that imposed a $3,500 civil penalty for allegedly distributing or selling an unregistered pesticide called Red-Z. The company argued that the complaint had not been properly served because the postal receipt was signed by a bookkeeper instead of an officer…
John Quinlan, t/a Quinlan Enterprises
Permanent-floor guardrail violation affirmed
Quinlan was the steel-erection subcontractor on a two-story building where employees worked near the edge of a permanent concrete second floor about 20 feet above the ground. A single wire rope ran around the perimeter at about 42 inches, but there was no midrail. Quinlan argued that the…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to compel discovery granted in part
This order concerns a consolidated set of contests involving altered respirable dust sample citations. Contestants sought excised portions of documents from six MSHA officials and employees. Judge James A. Broderick upheld some privilege claims, ordered in camera inspection of other documents, and…
N.A. Degerstrom, Inc., and Zortman Mining, Inc.
Partial dismissal after settlement
Complainant Roger Vogt and N.A. Degerstrom, Inc., reached an amicable settlement on the merits of this discrimination proceeding. Judge John J. Morris dismissed the complaint with prejudice as to N.A. Degerstrom. The complaint remained pending against Zortman Mining, Inc., and the hearing was…
Garratt Company
Citations affirmed, $310 in penalties assessed
MSHA cited Garratt Company after finding improperly bushed electrical cables, an uncovered electrical junction box, a nonworking reverse alarm, and a restraint on an inspector’s right of entry. Judge John J. Morris found that the violations were established even though the first three conditions…
Peabody Coal Company
Citation and penalty vacated, proceeding dismissed
Peabody Coal challenged a citation alleging a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.301. The Commission had granted Peabody’s petition for discretionary review after an adverse ALJ decision. MSHA later vacated the citation because a final rule expected to take effect would moot the issues, and Peabody did…
Hickory Coal Company
Settlement approved, $1,030 in penalties assessed
Hickory Coal Company and the Secretary jointly requested approval of a settlement covering four dockets and ten citations at the Slope No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer approved the settlement after the parties proposed penalty reductions based on the mine’s limited ability to pay and nonproducing…
Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation
In re Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-14): two permit issues remanded
Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation challenged corrective-action requirements in the federal portion of its RCRA permit for a manufacturing and research facility in East Hanover, New Jersey. The Environmental Appeals Board found that Sandoz had not preserved its challenge to the RCRA Facility…
Secretary of Labor v. Paul Shirel
Default order vacated and case remanded
Paul Shirel was found in default after he did not answer the Secretary’s civil penalty proposal or the judge’s order to show cause. The judge assessed the Secretary’s proposed $1,000 penalty. Shirel petitioned for discretionary review, stating that he and his counsel had not received the relevant…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to compel testimony granted in part
Contestants sought testimony from Robert Thaxton about respirable dust sample alteration investigations and related criminal investigations. Judge James A. Broderick sustained objections to most questions based on grand-jury secrecy, investigative privilege, deliberative-process privilege, or work…
U.S. Department of Energy, Pinellas Plant
In re U.S. Department of Energy, Pinellas Plant (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-3): review denied
The League of Women Voters of North Pinellas County, Inc. challenged the federal portion of a RCRA permit for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pinellas Plant in Largo, Florida. The petitioner asked the EAB to deny authorization for thermal treatment of hazardous waste, regulate radioactive and…
Ramar Coal Company, Incorporated
One citation affirmed, two settled, $1,125 in penalties assessed
Ramar Coal agreed to pay the proposed $500 penalties for two respirable dust sampling citations. The remaining citation concerned a refuse hauler that nearly collided with an MSHA inspector on a wet, steep haul road. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed that citation and assessed a $125 penalty, while…
Young Brothers Incorporated, Contractors
One citation vacated, one affirmed, $150 penalty assessed
MSHA cited Young Brothers after finding that guards did not adequately cover pinch points on two conveyor tail pulleys at the Atkins Pit. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found a violation where the rear and top of one tail pulley were not fully guarded, but found no reasonable possibility of contact…
Metric Constructors, Inc.
Hoist item reclassified and rebar item withdrawn
Metric Constructors used a material hoist while building a six-floor hospital addition in Clearwater, Florida. The judge affirmed items involving long material protruding from the hoist, an unprotected ground-level hoist entrance, unenclosed unused sides of the hoist tower, and exposed reinforcing…
Mathies Coal Company
Settlement approved and proceeding dismissed
This compensation proceeding involved Mathies Coal Company and members of United Mine Workers of America Local Union 2244. The complainants asked to withdraw their complaint after receiving compensation under a settlement agreement. Judge Gary Melick approved the withdrawal under 29 C.F.R. §…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Administrative motions accepted and amicus participation allowed
Jim Walter Resources submitted a notice of contest and motion seeking partial relief from final orders in closed penalty cases. The motion argued that some penalties had relied on an MSHA policy letter that the Commission had recently found had no legal weight or effect. The Commission accepted the…
National Cement Company
Backpay and reinstatement ordered after discrimination finding
This discrimination proceeding concerned Ronny Boswell's removal from a utility-laborer position at National Cement Company. After an earlier remand, Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the parties' stipulated pay differential was $0.945 per hour and awarded $6,094.28 in backpay through May 30, 1992…
Mid-Continent Resources Incorporated
Partial settlement approved and penalties assessed
Mid-Continent Resources Incorporated faced a civil penalty proceeding involving four citations at the Dutch Creek Mine. The parties reached a partial settlement and proposed reducing the penalties from a total of $4,800 to $2,880. Judge John J. Morris found the settlement reasonable and in the…
Thermex Energy Corporation and Richard W. Forsythe
In re Thermex Energy Corporation and Richard W. Forsythe (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 91-3): dismissal vacated and case remanded
EPA alleged that Thermex Energy Corporation violated RCRA at a hazardous-waste blasting-agent facility in Wyoming and proposed a $70,000 civil penalty. The Presiding Officer dismissed Richard W. Forsythe, Thermex’s president and principal shareholder, as an individual respondent. The EAB granted…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Remand discovery directions issued
This order addressed a Commission remand in the consolidated respirable dust sample alteration proceedings. Judge James A. Broderick was directed to rule on the Secretary's work-product privilege claim for six documents and on whether Criminal Rule 6(e) barred disclosure of two folders. He ordered…
Falcon Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Richard Allen Plaster claimed that Falcon Coal Corporation discharged him after he left the mine to obtain a replacement cap light and raised a safety concern. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the discharge resulted from Plaster's insubordinate and abusive language toward his supervisor, not from…
Peabody Coal Company
Ventilation-plan citation modified and $700 penalty assessed
Peabody Coal Company was cited after mining operations destroyed a methane-monitoring borehole that was not properly identified on the mine map. Judge Gary Melick found the violation significant and substantial and serious, but found that the evidence showed ordinary negligence rather than…
Texas Industries, Incorporated
Six violations affirmed and $456 penalty assessed
Texas Industries, Incorporated operated the Tin Top Sand and Gravel Plant. Judge Gary Melick found six violations involving an inadequately grounded electrical circuit and unguarded rotating machine parts. The judge found the violations significant and substantial and serious, and found negligence…
Mansel John Saffell v. National Cement Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Mansel John Saffell, a production foreman at National Cement Company's cement plant, complained about unsafe lighting and reported the conditions to MSHA. He later alleged that National Cement retaliated against him through undesirable job assignments and by refusing to reinstate him after he left…
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Ohio Coal Company
Conveyor belt citation vacated
Southern Ohio Coal operated an underground coal mine where an eight-miner crew extended a conveyor belt. The ALJ found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(c) because the belt was restarted without all affected miners being told. The Commission reversed, holding that extending the belt was not…
Renkiewicz SWD-18
In re Renkiewicz SWD-18 (EAB UIC Appeal No. 91-4): well information and species issues remanded
John H. French Jr. challenged a UIC permit issued to Muskegon Development Company for a disposal well near his property in Otsego County, Michigan. He raised concerns about information on other wells, pressure precautions, endangered species, and financial responsibility. The Environmental Appeals…
Marvin David Warren v. Webster County Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint withdrawn after settlement
Marvin David Warren filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Webster County Coal Corporation and later reported that he had resolved his differences with the company. Judge Avram Weisberger granted Warren's motion to withdraw the complaint and dismissed the case with prejudice.
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Depositions allowed out of time
Contestants in the respirable-dust sample alteration proceedings asked to take joint depositions of three Inspector General witnesses after the discovery deadline. The motion also sought a subpoena for investigative documents concerning alleged tampering with coal dust samples. Judge James A…
Stoneway Concrete
Penalty proceeding dismissed after settlement dispute
Stoneway Concrete failed to answer the Secretary's civil penalty proposal, then sent a letter stating that the matter had been settled and enclosed a $131.50 check. The Solicitor did not respond to the judge's order to file a settlement motion or explain why the case should not be dismissed. Judge…
Klamath Pacific Corporation
Penalty petition dismissed after repeated failure to respond
Klamath Pacific Corporation was the respondent in a civil penalty proceeding concerning its Stukel Mt. Crusher & Wash Plant. After the Commission remanded the case, Judge Paul Merlin ordered the parties to confer about settlement and directed the Solicitor to report the result. The Solicitor did…
Stoneway Concrete
Penalty proceeding dismissed for failure to prosecute
Stoneway Concrete requested a hearing in a civil penalty matter, but the Solicitor did not file the penalty petition. The judge's law clerk and the Commission's Docket Office reminded the Solicitor to file it, and a later order directed the Solicitor to show cause why the case should not be…
Stoneway Concrete
Penalty proceeding dismissed for failure to prosecute
Stoneway Concrete requested a hearing on a civil penalty matter, but the Solicitor did not file the penalty petition after repeated reminders. Judge Paul Merlin issued a show-cause order, and the Solicitor still did not respond. Because the case had been pending for more than a year without the…
Deatley Company
Penalty proceeding dismissed for failure to prosecute
Deatley Company requested a hearing in a civil penalty matter, but the Solicitor did not file the penalty petition. The Commission's Docket Office reminded the Solicitor to file it and later issued a show-cause order after the penalty proposal was still missing. The Solicitor did not respond. Judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Gatliff Coal Company, Inc.
Default order vacated and case remanded
Gatliff Coal failed to answer the Secretary of Labor's civil penalty proposal and a judge's show-cause order, so the ALJ entered a default order assessing the proposed $2,400 penalty. Gatliff told the Commission that clerical errors caused its answer to be filed in another proceeding and asked for…
Secretary of Labor v. Darbet, Incorporated
Settlement approved with $2,400 penalty
The Secretary alleged three violations of 30 C.F.R. § 70.209(b) by Darbet, Incorporated and sought total penalties of $3,000. The operator disputed the allegation that the violations resulted from a deliberate act and disputed the degree of negligence. Judge James A. Broderick approved the parties'…
VP-5 Mining Company
Methane citations and imminent-danger orders affirmed
VP-5 Mining Company operated a shaft coal mine in southwestern Virginia with a large mined-out area known as the East Gob. During inspections, MSHA found methane concentrations above the mine's ventilation-plan limits in several bleeder connectors, including readings from 4.0 to 5.2 percent. Judge…
Ramblin Coal Company, Inc.
Multiple mine-safety violations affirmed with $1,812 in penalties
Ramblin Coal Company operated Mine No. 8, a small coal mine employing about 20 people. Judge William Fauver found violations involving rock dust, electrical equipment, mine-road guarding, cutting-machine guarding, battery chargers, permissible equipment, compressed-gas cylinders, examination…
Mar-Land Industrial Contractor, Incorporated
Remand penalty set at $1,000
The Commission remanded Mar-Land Industrial Contractor's civil penalty proceeding for reassessment after reversing the judge's finding of high negligence. Judge Avram Weisberger applied the Commission's conclusion that Mar-Land's negligence was ordinary and considered the remaining statutory…
Georgetown Ironworks, Inc.
Citation against wrong employer withdrawn
A judge dismissed Georgetown Ironworks' notice of contest after the company failed to answer a show-cause order, which had the effect of affirming the citation and proposed penalties. The Secretary later received information showing that Georgetown Ironworks had no employees and no role at the…
Economy Sod, Inc.
Overlooked response restores notice of contest
A judge dismissed Economy Sod's notice of contest after concluding that the company had not answered an order to show cause. Economy Sod petitioned for review and maintained that it had responded on time. The Commission's record confirmed that a timely response had been received but overlooked…
Well Solutions, Inc.
Open-fields evidence reinstates rig-safety violations
An OSHA inspector first visited Well Solutions' oil-well rig without a warrant and observed unguarded platforms and employees without hard hats from an accessible road and field. The judge suppressed those observations and vacated the citations. The Commission held that the open-fields doctrine…
Alaska Trawl Fisheries, Inc.
OSHA jurisdiction over factory vessels affirmed
Alaska Trawl Fisheries and Golden Age Fisheries operated vessels that caught and processed fish near Dutch Harbor, Alaska. OSHA cited machine guarding, passageway, recordkeeping, welding-gas storage, and hazard-communication conditions aboard the vessels. The companies stipulated to the violations…
Baytown Construction Company, Inc.
Crane power-line clearance violation affirmed
Baytown employees used a truck crane to unload pipe near a 7,620-volt overhead power line. The crane cable and suspended pipe became energized, and an employee handling the pipe was electrocuted. Testimony about loud electrical discharges, burn damage to the cable, the crane's contact with the line…
Ed Taylor Construction Co.
Confined-space inspection-program violation affirmed
Taylor Construction employees entered a 24-foot-deep access shaft to close a valve for an artificial lake at an Atlanta office project. Three supervisory employees died after being overcome by an oxygen-deficient atmosphere during the initial entry and rescue attempts. Two related citation items…
Island Creek Coal Company
Compensation proceeding dismissed after settlement
Roy Farmer, on behalf of other miners, asked to withdraw a compensation complaint against Island Creek Coal Company based on a settlement of the underlying dispute. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11. He dismissed the case.
Koch Carbon, Inc.
Discrimination proceeding dismissed with prejudice at complainant's request
Raymond D. Sheets told Koch Carbon's counsel that he wished to drop his discrimination case. He also sent the judge a letter requesting that the case against Koch Carbon end with no further action. Neither party responded to the judge's order to show cause why the matter should not be dismissed…
Hills Materials Company
Settlement approved and two citations modified
Hills Materials Company and the Secretary agreed to settle five violations after a hearing. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. approved the settlement and modified two citations by deleting their significant-and-substantial designations. The other three citations were resolved at the penalties proposed…
Doris Coal Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalties reduced to $12,155
Doris Coal Company faced thirteen alleged violations of 30 C.F.R. § 70.209(b), originally assessed at $1,100 each. The Secretary and the operator disputed whether the violations resulted from a deliberate act and disputed the degree of negligence. Judge James A. Broderick approved the settlement…
United States Steel Mining Company
Finding of no violation affirmed
United States Steel Mining operated a preparation plant with a thermal coal dryer. An MSHA inspector observed a crack in the dryer's metal lining and cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 77.200, alleging loss of fluidizing air and a potential fire or explosion hazard. The Commission held that the…
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. Kettleman Hills Facility
In re Chemical Waste Management, Inc. Kettleman Hills Facility (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-17): review denied
El Pueblo para el Aire y Agua Limpio challenged a permit modification for Chemical Waste Management’s Kettleman Hills hazardous-waste facility in California. The petitioner argued that former EPA permits-section chief James C. Breitlow had a conflict because he discussed employment with CWM while…
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.