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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Atlas Environmental Services, Inc., et al.
In re Atlas Environmental Services, Inc., et al. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-18): review denied
Atlas Environmental Services, Inc. operated a proposed reactive-waste incinerator and storage and feed handling building in Joplin, Missouri. Petitioners challenged the federal portion of the RCRA permit, raising concerns about a permit typo, site geology and groundwater, air quality, the location…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Noise and press items affirmed with other items vacated
Trinity Industries manufactured liquid propane gas cylinders at a Jacksonville, Florida facility and contested consolidated health and safety citations. The Commission declined to dismiss the cases over the Secretary's refusal to comply with discovery orders because Trinity had litigated the…
Klamath Pacific Corporation
Settlement order reopened and remanded
Klamath Pacific Corporation had agreed to settle eight citations, and the ALJ approved a lump-sum penalty of $956.80 instead of the $1,472.00 originally proposed. The company later wrote that it contested all alleged violations and asked that three citations be dropped. The Commission treated that…
Industrial Glass
Heat-stress general-duty citation vacated
Industrial Glass manufactured bottles in a forming department where employees worked near molten glass and hot bottles. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause for exposing employees to excessive heat stress. The Commission found that the Secretary's expert models did not accurately…
Lad Mining Inc., Larry Flynn, and Ronald Calhoun
Discovery order partially granted
The Secretary brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint on behalf of Jerry Lee Dotson, who alleged that Lad Mining, Larry Flynn, and Ronald Calhoun discharged him and refused to rehire him because of protected safety activity. During discovery, the respondents sought the names and expected…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Remand settlement approved and proceedings dismissed
Southern Ohio Coal Company had a contest proceeding and a related civil penalty proceeding at the Martinka No. 1 Mine. On remand, the Secretary represented that the evidence would not support one order under the Commission’s Southern Ohio Coal standard, and Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated that order…
White Oak Mining Company
Jeffery A. Pate v. White Oak Mining Company (FMSHRC SE 91-104-D): Retaliatory discharge found, relief reserved
Jeffery A. Pate, a subcontractor and laborer at White Oak Mining, refused to shovel around an unguarded stacker-blender belt line after previously raising the guarding concern with MSHA. White Oak supervisor James Whitfield fired him after the refusal, although Pate also had other complaints about…
Pyramid Mining, Incorporated
Citations vacated and modified, one proceeding stayed
Pyramid Mining faced several citations at its Hall No. 2 Mine. The Secretary agreed to withdraw three citations, and Judge Avram Weisberger dismissed them. The judge approved reductions for a combustible-material citation and a hoist safety-device citation, lowering the combined penalty for those…
U. S. Steel Mining Company, Incorporated
Local Union 2122 v. U. S. Steel Mining Company (FMSHRC SE 91-26-C): Settlement withdrawal granted and case dismissed
Local Union 2122 of the United Mine Workers of America filed a compensation proceeding against U. S. Steel Mining Company concerning the Oak Grove Mine. The union moved to withdraw the case based on a stipulation of settlement filed by the parties. Judge Avram Weisberger granted the motion and…
Old Ben Coal Company
Coal-accumulation and seal citations dismissed
Old Ben Coal faced citations for coal and oil accumulations on diesel scoops and for the construction of underground seals at two mines. Judge Avram Weisberger held that the scoops were powered by diesel engines and were not electric equipment for purposes of the cited accumulation standard. He…
Erie Coke Corporation
Employer had to pay for gloves but violation was de minimis
Erie Coke made flame-resistant gloves available to coke-oven employees but required them to buy the gloves from the company at cost. The Commission deferred to the Secretary's reasonable interpretation that the coke-oven emissions standard required the employer to provide and pay for the gloves. It…
Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Hercules, Inc.
In re Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Hercules, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 91-28): review denied
EPA Region II issued Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Hercules, Inc. a permit for the federal portion of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. The petitioners argued that the permit should automatically terminate if New York State later…
Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to vacate allowed to proceed
The consolidated proceedings involved 36 citations alleging that respirable-dust samples had been altered by removing part of the dust from the sample. The mine operators moved to vacate the citations, arguing that MSHA delayed issuing them and that the delay caused prejudice through lost evidence…
Ames Construction, Inc.
Tom K. Sperry v. Ames Construction, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 91-473-DM): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Tom K. Sperry alleged that Ames Construction laid him off and then refused to rehire him because he had filed an MSHA complaint and raised safety concerns. Ames said the layoff resulted from a seasonal reduction in force and that it did not rehire Sperry because he was an unsafe employee. Judge…
Twentymile Coal Company
Respiratory-dust citation affirmed as significant and substantial
MSHA cited Twentymile Coal after five valid samples showed an average respirable-dust concentration of 2.1 milligrams per cubic meter, above the 2.0 limit. The parties agreed that the violation occurred and asked the judge to decide whether the citation could be designated significant and…
National Cement Company
Ronny Boswell v. National Cement Company (FMSHRC SE 90-112-DM): Safety-refusal discrimination sustained on remand
National Cement disqualified Ronny Boswell from his utility-laborer job after he refused to use a bobcat and then sought a union and company safety review before moving steel grinding balls up an inclined ramp in a wheelbarrow. The Commission had remanded the case for the judge to address the…
Helen Mining Company
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $600
Helen Mining Company faced a civil penalty proceeding involving the Homer City Mine. At the hearing, the parties proposed resolving the case by reducing the penalty from $1,300 to $600 and dismissing the case after payment. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's…
Peabody Coal Company
Respiratory-dust citation affirmed and $100 penalty assessed
MSHA cited Peabody Coal after five respirable-dust samples averaged 2.1 milligrams per cubic meter, above the 2.0 mg/m3 regulatory limit. Peabody argued that the 86 percent confidence level associated with the sampling results was too low to prove a violation. Judge Gary Melick found that credible…
Imageries
Default order upheld after repeated failures to respond
OSHA cited Imageries after an employee on a two-point suspension scaffold was not wearing a safety belt attached to a lifeline and after finding that the company lacked a written hazard communication program. The employee fell to his death, and the company president stated that the employee was his…
Essroc Corporation
Monetary relief ordered after discrimination finding
Essroc Corporation operated a cement grinding plant where Clifford Meek had been denied employment after engaging in protected safety-related activity. An earlier decision found discrimination, and this order resolved the remaining question of monetary relief. Judge William Fauver ordered Essroc to…
Harman Mining Company
Settlement approved and penalties reduced to $9,360
Harman Mining faced nine alleged respirable-dust violations at the Greenbrier No. 1 Mine. The parties disputed whether the violations resulted from deliberate conduct and agreed to reduce the total proposed penalties from $11,700 to $9,360. Judge James A. Broderick approved the settlement under the…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal
Safeguard violation citations dismissed on remand
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal contested citations issued at its Greenwich Collieries No. 2 Mine after an inspector saw miners unloading metal pipes and cylindrical objects from an elevator. On remand from the Commission, Judge Avram Weisberger examined whether the safeguard specifically identified a…
Eagle Nest, Inc.
Trolley-wire citation amended to non-S&S
Eagle Nest contested a citation alleging that trolley wires at its longwall mine were too close to pillar workings. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the wires were less than 150 feet from the gob area and that the operator violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1002. He found, however, that the evidence did not…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement motion denied over proposed S&S reductions
Consolidation Coal Company faced citations at its Dilworth Mine for an obstructed travelway and missing insulating mats near electrical control boxes. The parties proposed reducing several significant-and-substantial designations, but Judge William Fauver found that the proposal did not show the…
Yerington Leasing Company
Settlement approved and three citations vacated
Yerington Leasing Company faced a civil penalty proceeding concerning conditions at its aggregate pit. The Secretary moved to vacate three citations for insufficient evidence, and Yerington agreed to pay the proposed penalty for the remaining citations. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement and…
LaRosa & Lamar Janitorial Services
Default dismissal set aside over defective service
An OSHRC judge dismissed LaRosa & Lamar Janitorial Services' notice of contest after the company did not answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to a show-cause order. The Commission set the dismissal aside because the judge sent the show-cause order by certified mail without requesting a…
Waste Coal Management, Inc.
Default order vacated and case remanded
Waste Coal Management failed to answer a civil penalty petition and an order to show cause, so an ALJ entered a default order assessing $273 in penalties. The company later sent a letter asking that the default judgment be dismissed, and the Commission treated the letter as a request for relief…
Consolidation Coal Company
Five citations settled for $538
Consolidation Coal faced five citations involving ventilation stoppings, an unmarked circuit breaker, a high-voltage cable on the mine floor, and excessive spacing between fire hose outlets. The parties agreed to remove the significant-and-substantial designations and settle the five citations for…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved, citation modified, and citation vacated
Consolidation Coal reached settlements covering roof support, an electrical pump, an unreported silo fire, and an allegedly inadequate preshift examination. Judge Paul Merlin approved the settlements, modified the roof-support citation to non-S&S with a $155 penalty, and kept the $259 penalty for…
Wallace Brothers
Late contest dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Wallace Brothers received three citations at its portable crusher but did not contest the proposed assessment within 30 days. The operator's counsel later argued that MSHA had not served counsel with the assessment, that the operator had been denied a health and safety conference, and that the late…
CWM Chemical Services, Inc., et al.
In re CWM Chemical Services, Inc., et al. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 91-6): complaint reinstated and stay vacated
This interlocutory appeal arose from an Administrative Law Judge's ruling that the five-year statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 2462 applied to administrative penalties under TSCA. The ruling dismissed a large portion of an EPA Region II complaint. The Environmental Appeals Board relied on its…
Holman Steel Company
Default order set aside for settlement review
An OSHRC judge dismissed Holman Steel Company's notice of contest, affirmed a citation, and assessed a $1,500 penalty after the company did not respond to an order. The Secretary asked the Commission to review the default because the parties had executed a settlement agreement. Her petition stated…
Consolidation Coal Company
Carbon-monoxide citation vacated
Consolidation Coal had a point-type fire detection system that met the cited standard at its Dilworth Mine. The Secretary argued that a separate petition for modification required the mine to use a carbon-monoxide alarm system connected to a continuously monitored surface location. Judge Gary…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Consolidation Coal Company was involved in a civil penalty proceeding concerning the Humphrey No. 7 Mine. The parties proposed a settlement reducing the penalty from $1,295 to $1,191. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act criteria and approved it. The company was…
Consolidation Coal Company
Citation vacated and settlement approved
Consolidation Coal Company was involved in a civil penalty proceeding concerning the Humphrey No. 7 Mine. The judge vacated Citation No. 3316065 for insufficient evidence and considered a settlement agreement for the remaining citations. The proposed settlement reduced the penalty from $2,638 to…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Expert discovery partly compelled
The Secretary of Labor sought documents, test results, and access to experimental dust filters used by expert witnesses in respirable-dust citation contests. Judge James A. Broderick found that the expert reports and underlying tests were important to meaningful depositions. He ordered the…
Peabody Coal Company
Ventilation citation upheld and settlement approved
Peabody Coal Company was cited at the Martwick Underground Mine after an inspection found only 6,750 cubic feet per minute of air at the last open crosscut, below the 9,000 CFM minimum in 30 C.F.R. § 75.301. Judge Gary Melick rejected the company's arguments that the inspector measured at the wrong…
Quinn Machine & Tool, Inc.
Settlement approved after citations were vacated
An OSHRC judge vacated citations against Quinn Machine & Tool after the Secretary did not timely file either a complaint or a fully executed settlement agreement. The Secretary sought review, and the parties submitted the completed agreement they said had already been negotiated. The agreement…
Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc.
Asbestos monitoring case settled for $1,600
Consolidated Edison employees removed asbestos-containing gasket material at the company's Indian Point station without initial exposure monitoring. An OSHRC judge found a repeated violation of the asbestos monitoring standard and assessed $1,000. The judge also affirmed without a penalty an…
Cornet Frosted Foods & Ice Cream Corporation
Settlement remanded to add omitted item
Cornet Frosted Foods & Ice Cream Corporation and the Secretary settled citations issued in October 1991. Their written agreement reduced the listed penalties from $7,000 to $3,000, required payment of that amount, and recorded the company's representation that the cited conditions had been abated…
Consolidation Coal Company
Multiple citations modified, settled, and vacated
Consolidation Coal Company faced several consolidated citation and penalty proceedings involving the Humphrey No. 7, Shoemaker, and Blacksville No. 1 Mines. The judge approved settlements that reduced penalties, removed significant-and-substantial findings, changed negligence levels, or modified…
Tunnelton Mining Company
Settlement motion denied
Tunnelton Mining Company sought approval of a settlement for a citation alleging that a roof-bolter trailing cable was not effectively insulated and did not exclude moisture. The proposed settlement would have reduced the alleged violation from significant and substantial to non-significant and…
Shell Energy Company, Inc.
Serious roof-control citation upheld
Shell Energy admitted that a continuous miner operator advanced 10 feet beyond permanent roof supports in violation of the mine's approved roof-control plan and 30 C.F.R. § 75.200. The company also admitted that the violation was significant and substantial and resulted from unwarrantable failure…
Charles E. Carpenter, Employed by Island Creek Coal Company
Settlement approved and $350 penalty assessed
Charles E. Carpenter, employed by Island Creek Coal Company, was the respondent in a Mine Act civil penalty proceeding involving the Dobbin Mine. The Secretary of Labor had withdrawn the charges under Order No. 3111274 and sought to resolve the remaining charges under Order No. 3111276 through a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Ignition-reporting citations affirmed
Consolidation Coal Company contested two citations alleging that it failed to report an underground coal-dust ignition and continued mining without preserving the accident scene at the Robinson Run No. 95 Mine. Judge George A. Koutras credited miners who described seeing a short-lived flame and…
Tampa Shipyards, Inc.
Willful crane overload affirmed after fatal collapse
Tampa Shipyards used a tower crane to lift and swing a ship-deck section that workers believed weighed 33 tons while the boom was set for a 21-ton capacity. The crane collapsed during the lift and killed two employees. The Commission affirmed a willful general duty clause violation because…
Chrisman Ready Mix Inc.
Three citations affirmed and $98 in penalties assessed
MSHA sought penalties for three alleged violations involving Chrisman Ready-Mix Inc. at the Clarksville Quarry and Ozark Material Co., Inc. at the Guthrey Island Pit & Plant. The parties settled the two violations in Docket No. CENT 91-82-M for the initially assessed penalties of $39 each. The…
P-F Mining, Incorporated, Et al
Discrimination proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor filed a discrimination proceeding on behalf of Peter D. Sprouse against P-F Mining, Incorporated and other respondents. The complainant filed a notice withdrawing the complaint. Judge Avram Weisberger granted the Secretary's motion to withdraw and dismissed the case.
Hackney, Inc.
Noise program items vacated but records violation affirmed
Hackney operated a pipe manufacturing plant where OSHA alleged willful violations of several occupational noise requirements. The Commission vacated the audiometric-testing and hearing-protector supervision items because OSHA did not reliably prove employee exposure at or above the required…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Expert report ordered, sanctions denied
In a master docket concerning contests of respirable-dust sample alteration citations, the Secretary of Labor asked to exclude U.S. Steel Mining Co.'s expert witness and impose discovery sanctions. The Secretary argued that the expert report did not describe the tests, results, or conclusions…
Shrewsbury Coal Company
Conveyor citation affirmed as significant and substantial, $400 penalty assessed
Shrewsbury Coal Company was cited after a conveyor was operated without a positive audible or visible warning system, even though the entire conveyor was not visible from the starting switch. The judge found that miners were shoveling coal near unguarded rollers while the belt was not locked out…
In re: Contests of Respirable Sample Alteration Citations
Protective-order motion denied on reconsideration
In the master docket, the Secretary of Labor asked the judge to reconsider an earlier order concerning depositions of senior government officials. The Secretary sought to bar the deposition of retired Coal Mine Administrator Jerry L. Spicer, arguing that another witness could provide the same…
Boswell v. National Cement Company
Discrimination ruling affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded
Ronny Boswell, a utility laborer at National Cement Company's Alabama cement plant, was disqualified from that position and transferred to a lower-base-pay payloader-operator job after several workplace incidents. An ALJ found that Boswell's refusals to perform work he reasonably believed was…
C.W. Mining Company
SCSR-storage citation modified and $500 penalty assessed
C.W. Mining Company was cited at its Bear Canyon No. 1 underground coal mine after a mantrip left the mine without a self-contained self-rescuer for each rider. The judge found that the storage-plan violation was serious and involved high negligence, but that the evidence did not establish the…
Cumberland Valley Contractors
Discrimination settlement approved
The Secretary of Labor brought a discrimination complaint for three former miners who alleged that Cumberland Valley Contractors discharged them after they complained about unsafe practices involving the roof control plan. The company denied discriminating against them. The parties and the three…
Richard Sierra v. Phelps Dodge Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed after withdrawal
Richard Sierra filed a discrimination complaint against Phelps Dodge Corporation in a proceeding involving the Tyrone Branch. On the day before the scheduled hearing, Sierra said he would withdraw the complaint unless he received more time to obtain an attorney. After the judge declined to grant…
Ford Construction Company
Three citations vacated and four affirmed, with $225 in penalties
Ford Construction Company was cited for safety violations while working on a settling pond at a California gold mine. Judge John J. Morris held that MSHA had jurisdiction concurrent with Cal-OSHA and denied the company's motion to dismiss on that ground. He vacated three citations, including two…
Cobra Mining, Inc., Jerry K. Lester, and Carter Messer
Consequential damages set after Commission remand
This discrimination proceeding returned to Judge Avram Weisberger after the Commission directed him to reconsider the consequential damages owed to Amos Hicks for the loss of a pickup truck repossessed after his discriminatory discharge. The Secretary submitted the truck's fair market value, and…
T & H Coal Company, Inc.
Penalty approved and case dismissed after payment
T & H Coal Company withdrew its contest of the proposed penalty for a respirable-dust citation and paid the penalty. The citation alleged that respirable dust had been intentionally removed from samples before they were submitted to MSHA. Judge Paul Merlin reviewed the penalty under the Mine Act's…
CNB Coal Company, Inc.
Motion to dismiss late penalty petition denied
CNB Coal Company asked the judge to dismiss a civil penalty proceeding because the Secretary filed the penalty petition after the deadline in Commission Rule 27. The Secretary explained that an extraordinary volume of citations and contest notices had caused the delay. Judge James A. Broderick…
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.