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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Quarto Mining Company
Respirable-dust settlement approved
Quarto Mining Company was cited for excessive respirable dust at the Powhatan No. 4 Mine. Judge James A. Broderick approved a settlement reducing the proposed penalty from $1,000 to $450. The decision states that the operator was revising its dust-control plan and that the revised plan had reduced…
Quarto Mining Company
Settlement approved for two mine-safety violations
Quarto Mining Company was cited for excessive respirable dust at a designated occupation and loose coal along a belt conveyor at the Powhatan No. 4 Mine. Judge James A. Broderick approved the parties' settlement, which reduced the proposed penalties from $2,850 to $1,324. The settlement amount…
Quarto Mining Company
Respirable-dust settlement approved
Quarto Mining Company was cited twice after respirable-dust samples exceeded the applicable limit for two designated occupations at the Powhatan No. 4 mine. The violations were originally assessed at $2,700. The parties proposed an $800 settlement because Quarto was revising its dust-control plan…
Alamo Cement Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered in discrimination case
Yale E. Hennessee alleged that Alamo Cement discharged him after he refused to remove a burned-out motor from a clinker dome because the access ramp was covered with clinker and unsafe to traverse. Judge George A. Koutras found that the evidence raised a viable question about whether Hennessee's…
Cathedral Bluffs Shale Oil
Independent-contractor liability remanded
This civil-penalty case returned to the Commission after the D.C. Circuit reversed an earlier Commission decision involving a mandatory safety violation committed by Cathedral Bluffs' independent contractor. The court held that the Commission had improperly treated the Secretary's enforcement…
Sanders Construction, Inc.
Four citations affirmed and one vacated
Sanders Construction, Inc. faced five citations at the Gilbert Mine #1 in connection with violations of mandatory mine-safety standards. After a hearing began, the parties reached a settlement. Judge John J. Morris approved the settlement, affirmed four citations under 30 C.F.R. §§ 56.6047 and…
Samoyed Energy Company, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Tony Wiley alleged that Samoyed Energy Company discharged him in retaliation for reporting dangerous mine conditions. Judge Gary Melick found that Wiley made protected safety complaints, including complaints about road conditions, a gas line, and inadequate bulldozer heat, but found no sufficient…
Cannelton Industries, Inc.
Part 90 pay protection violation found
Cannelton Industries transferred Part 90 miner John W. Bushnell from dispatcher to general inside laborer, changed his occupation code, and reduced his hourly pay from $113.28 to $104.78. Judge William Fauver held that the Part 90 pay-protection rule required the company to retain Bushnell's…
Helvetia Coal Company
Methane and oxygen settlement approved
Helvetia Coal Company was cited twice under 30 C.F.R. § 75.301, once for excessive methane and once for inadequate oxygen at the Lucerne No. 6 mine. The violations were originally assessed at $750 each, for $1,500 total, and the parties proposed settling them for $425 each, or $850 total. The…
River Cement Company
Late penalty petition dismissed
River Cement Company moved to dismiss the Secretary's civil-penalty petition as untimely. Judge John J. Morris found that the Secretary filed the petition seven days after the 45-day deadline in Commission Rule 27(a), and that the Secretary's explanations of inadvertence and multiple responses did…
River Cement Company
Two late penalty petitions dismissed
River Cement Company moved to dismiss two civil-penalty petitions as untimely. Judge John J. Morris found that the Secretary filed both petitions 23 days after the 45-day deadline in Commission Rule 27(a), and that a change in processing policy and reliance on an internal date stamp did not…
Reco, Inc.
Discrimination complaints dismissed
Brothers Dillard and Lonnie Smith worked for Reco, Inc. servicing mine batteries, including in underground coal mines. They refused an assignment to work underground because Dillard's required training had expired and Lonnie had not received underground training, and their foreman told each to…
Consolidation Coal Company
Retaliatory reprimand for equipment tag-out found
DuWayne Schafer, a heavy-equipment operator at the Glenharold Mine, tagged out a motor grader twice because its brakes were slow to engage and the machine was being used on an inclined roadway near a drop-off. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that Schafer acted reasonably and in good faith in…
Bethenergy Mines, Inc.
Contest withdrawal granted
Bethenergy Mines, Inc. asked to withdraw its contest of Citation No. 2695988, issued on August 20, 1986, at Livingston Portal 84. Judge Gary Melick granted permission under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11 and dismissed the contest proceeding. The order does not decide the underlying citation's merits.
Greenwich Collieries, Division of Pennsylvania Mines Corporation
Ventilation order vacated
MSHA cited Greenwich Collieries after an inspector concluded that air was moving contrary to the ventilation plan in the D-9 area of the Greenwich No. 1 Mine, where a methane accumulation had previously occurred. The citation was modified to a section 104(d)(2) unwarrantable-failure order under 30…
Amax Chemical Corporation
Settlement approved and stay lifted
Amax Chemical Corporation faced two civil-penalty proceedings in which the parties proposed reducing the penalties from $2,925 to $445. After hearings on the merits and a later Commission decision involving Amax, the parties renewed their settlement request. Judge Gary Melick approved the…
J.L. Foti Construction Company
Scaffold-block issue remanded for stability finding
J.L. Foti Construction Company, a masonry contractor, used concrete blocks as part of the support for a scaffold at a wastewater-treatment-plant project. Following a Sixth Circuit decision, the Commission remanded the alleged violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(a)(2) to the administrative law judge…
Fife Rock Products Company, Incorporated
Default decision vacated and remanded
Fife Rock Products failed to attend a scheduled hearing, and the ALJ entered a default decision affirming a citation under 30 C.F.R. § 56.5-7 and assessing a $600 penalty. Fife later said it had not received the hearing notice and asked for a stay and rehearing. The Commission treated the request…
William B. Hopke Company, Inc.
Attorney-fee award affirmed for flagman citation
William B. Hopke Company sought attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing against flagman and trench-box citations. The Commission held that the Secretary was not substantially justified in pursuing the flagman citation because the incorporated ANSI provision used…
Brubaker-Mann Incorporated
Magazine-area citation affirmed with $15 penalty
Brubaker-Mann Incorporated operated a small business subject to the Mine Act. An inspector found two pieces of lumber within six feet of a powder magazine and several hundred railroad ties within 20 feet. Judge John J. Morris found that the railroad ties were unnecessary combustible material under…
Dennis Ayres v. Fairpoint Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after settlement
Dennis Ayres alleged that Fairpoint Coal Company discharged him after he raised concerns about unsafe equipment. He testified about a highwall incident involving a dozer and a problem with its reverse gear, along with his dispute with mine management. The parties reached a settlement during the…
U.S. Steel Corporation, Eastern Steel Division & Its Successors
Willful citation withdrawn after review
An administrative law judge had affirmed a willful citation against U.S. Steel under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.179(l)(3). The Commission granted review and later requested briefs. Although the Secretary continued to believe the judge was correct, he withdrew the citation after reviewing the record and…
United Parcel Service
Footwear abatement issue remanded for hearing
United Parcel Service had withdrawn its contest to a citation alleging that workers handling heavy parcels needed foot protection under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1910.132(a) and 1910.136. After a later inspection, OSHA issued a failure-to-abate notification because the employees were not wearing safety shoes…
City Oil Well Service Co.
Respirator violations affirmed after hydrogen sulfide exposure
Two City Oil Well Service employees died during swabbing work at an oil well where later testing found hydrogen sulfide at 225 parts per million. City relied on well operators to identify hydrogen-sulfide hazards and provide respirators, and it had no respiratory-protection program of its own. The…
Martin Wright Electric Company
Serious citation withdrawn in approved settlement
OSHA cited Martin Wright Electric for a serious guardrail violation with a proposed $250 penalty and a nonserious electrical violation with no proposed penalty. The judge affirmed the guardrail item but reduced its penalty to $75, and vacated the electrical item. During Commission review, the…
CF&I Steel Corporation
Most coke-oven items vacated
OSHA cited CF&I Steel over regulated areas, respirator practices, smoking, and training at its Pueblo coke-oven facility. The Commission held that the undefined term "battery ends" meant the outer pinion walls as understood in the coke-oven industry, so facilities and machinery beyond those walls…
Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc.
Safety-net and floor-opening items vacated
Williams Enterprises was the steel-erection subcontractor on a high-rise construction project in Atlanta. In this 1986 decision, the Commission held that the steel-erection rules displaced the general safety-net standard and vacated the exterior-fall allegations under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1926.105(a) and…
Spartan Rigging Corporation & Atlantic Rigging Corporation
Safety-belt citations withdrawn
OSHA cited Spartan Rigging and Atlantic Rigging for allegedly failing to require employees dismantling scaffolds to wear tied-off safety belts. An administrative law judge affirmed the serious citations under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a), and the employers obtained Commission review. After further…
Salem-Gravure Division of World Color Press, Inc.
Trade-secret inspection order vacated
OSHA cited Salem-Gravure under the general duty clause for alleged repetitive-motion hazards in its bindery department. During discovery, the Secretary sought to have a private consultant inspect areas containing trade secrets. The Commission held that its own protective order did not provide…
Pav-Saver Manufacturing Company
Oral contest accepted and case remanded
OSHA issued Pav-Saver serious and nonserious citations with $3,820 in proposed penalties. During the contest period, company representatives attended an informal conference, explained their abatement measures, and believed OSHA's approval meant the citations would be dismissed. Pav-Saver did not…
Barretto Granite Corporation
Citations vacated after oral contest accepted
Barretto Granite orally disputed OSHA's citation and $240 proposed penalty at an informal conference held within the 15-working-day contest period, then sent written confirmation after the deadline. The Commission held that the company reasonably believed the conference and follow-up letter…
FMC Corporation
Nitrogen-trichloride hazard items vacated
FMC produced chlorine at a West Virginia plant where nitrogen trichloride was present in a waste stream handled through heated tanks and transfer piping. An employee died when an explosion occurred in a transfer line and tank during the neutralization process. OSHA issued two general-duty citations…
Elmer Construction Corporation
Late contest accepted after filing confusion
OSHA issued Elmer Construction a citation alleging two serious violations and proposing a $320 penalty. Elmer paid the penalty, but its newly hired attorney called OSHA seeking to contest the citation while the 15-working-day filing period was still open. Because neither the attorney nor the OSHA…
Synkote Paint Company, KDK Upset Forging Company
Citations affirmed despite warrant challenges
Synkote Paint and KDK Upset Forging challenged programmed-inspection warrants as broader than the administrative plans used to establish probable cause. Each company stipulated that it had committed the cited violations while preserving its warrant and suppression arguments. The Commission read…
Pennsylvania Steel Foundry & Machine Company
Foundry settlement enforced and machine items split
OSHA's inspection of Pennsylvania Steel Foundry produced citations alleging 298 violations. The Commission declined to suppress the inspection evidence, holding that the later rule against ex parte warrants did not apply retroactively and that suppression would provide little deterrent value under…
Engle, Inc.
Scaffold citation settled without penalty
OSHA cited Engle, a construction company, for one serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(e)(8) and proposed a $240 penalty. An administrative law judge affirmed the citation and assessed $150, after which the Commission granted review. In the settlement, the Secretary reclassified the citation…
Aerlex Corporation
Settlement approval set aside for withdrawal hearing
Aerlex agreed to withdraw its contest to citations and $58,000 in proposed penalties after an explosion reportedly destroyed its business. The company stated that it had a defense but lacked the income and resources to continue litigating. After counsel reappeared, Aerlex moved to withdraw from the…
Cerro Copper Products Company
Suppression orders vacated after court reversal
A Commission judge had invalidated two OSHA inspection warrants and suppressed the evidence gathered under them, causing most citation items to be vacated. The Seventh Circuit reversed those portions of the judge's orders and directed the Commission to approve the safety and health warrants. The…
Robert Aaron Greenberg, Esquire, and The Law Firm of Tomar, Parks, Seliger, Simonoff & Adourian
Disciplinary proceeding closed without findings
The Commission received an apology from attorney Robert Aaron Greenberg and his law firm concerning the circumstances that led to a disciplinary proceeding. They also assured the Commission that they would use their best efforts to follow Commission rules and orders in the future. Because the…
Heaton Erecting, Inc.
Mobile-scaffold guardrail issue remanded
OSHA alleged that Heaton Erecting violated the mobile-scaffold guardrail standard because an unguarded scaffold was more than 40 feet above the ground. The judge vacated the item because the scaffold platform was only 50 to 70 inches above its base and relied on a Commission interpretation that was…
Dun-Par Engineered Form Company
Unguarded-floor citation affirmed
A Dun-Par employee died after falling 131 feet from an unguarded eleventh-floor perimeter while banding stacks of lumber. The Commission held that the employee was exposed to a fall hazard while working 2 to 3.5 feet from the edge and that the foreman knew or should have known the assigned work…
Inland Steel Company
Railcar safety citation vacated
An Inland Steel switchman died while attempting to couple two groups of railcars at the company's large internal railroad operation. OSHA alleged a willful general-duty violation because Inland's cars lacked handbrakes and because its program for defective railcars and coupling work was inadequate…
Dun-Par Engineered Form Company
Fall-protection citation vacated as infeasible
Dun-Par employees performed concrete formwork on unguarded upper floors of an eleven-story construction project. The Commission replaced its strict impossibility defense with an infeasibility defense that considers the practical realities of the workplace. It held that Dun-Par proved perimeter…
Kastalon, Inc. and Conap, Inc.
MOCA exposure citations vacated
Kastalon and Conap used MOCA, a chemical shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, to manufacture polyurethane products. OSHA alleged general-duty violations at both companies and personal-protective-equipment and respirator violations at Conap. The Commission held that OSHA had to prove a…
John R. Jurgensen Company
Repeated trenching violation affirmed
Jurgensen was installing a drain line beside an older pipeline when part of an unshored trench wall collapsed on an employee. The Commission found the wall unstable because the new trench intersected backfill and gravel from the earlier excavation, and Jurgensen did not prove that the old fill had…
Bemis Manufacturing Company
Nuisance-dust citation withdrawn with prejudice
The Secretary moved to withdraw a citation alleging that Bemis Manufacturing violated the nuisance-dust limit in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission granted the withdrawal with prejudice. The official release provides no additional factual or penalty details.
Con Agra, Inc.
Citation withdrawn with prejudice
The Secretary moved to withdraw the citation against Con Agra. The Commission granted the withdrawal with prejudice. The official release does not identify the cited standard, facts, or proposed penalty.
Monarch Water Systems, Inc.
Paint-ignition item remanded
Monarch employees sprayed flammable paint inside a tank while a blower and hand lamp were positioned within 50 feet. The judge vacated the flammable-liquid item based partly on ventilation and the employees' failure to follow company instructions. The Commission held that the cited standard…
Amax Lead Company of Missouri
Medical-removal pay citations vacated
Amax Lead, Schuylkill Metals, and St. Joe Resources transferred employees from high-lead jobs under the lead standard's medical-removal provisions. They continued each employee's regular hourly rate for a 40-hour week but did not pay potential overtime, production bonuses, shift differentials, or…
Amoco Chemicals Corporation
Illness-recording and medical-notice items vacated
OSHA alleged that Amoco willfully failed to record asbestos-related illnesses and failed to tell an employee about a potentially serious pleural condition. The Commission held that the record did not prove Amoco had enough information and expertise at the relevant time to reasonably diagnose the…
K.D.K. Upset Forging, Inc.
Attorney-fee entitlement recognized after withdrawal
OSHA cited K.D.K. for failing to post the required employee notice, then withdrew the citation before hearing. K.D.K. applied for $600 in attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission held that K.D.K. was the prevailing party because withdrawal gave it the principal relief…
Pelron Corporation
Ethylene-oxide training citation vacated
An explosion in Pelron's pilot chemical reactor killed one employee and seriously injured another during an experimental ethylene-oxide process. OSHA alleged that Pelron's employee training did not adequately prevent ethylene-oxide explosions. The Commission held that the hazard had to be defined…
Dorothy Mae Coal Co., Inc.
Default penalties assessed at $7,260
Dorothy Mae Coal Co., Inc. failed to answer MSHA interrogatories after an order compelling responses. It also failed to explain the noncompliance or respond to the Secretary's motion for default judgment. Judge Roy J. Maurer deemed the company to have waived its right to a hearing and made the…
Helen Mining Company
Methane orders split, with $1,500 penalty
Helen Mining Company operated the Homer City Mine, where MSHA charged two violations of the methane-control standard at 30 C.F.R. § 75.308. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that methane in number five entry reached 1.7 to 1.9 percent and that the foreman knew about it, but failed to de-energize the…
Stoney Fork Coal Company
Settlement approved for $330
Stoney Fork Coal Company agreed to settle eight alleged violations at the Stoney No. 1 Mine. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy independently reviewed the proposed settlement and found it consistent with the purposes and policy of the Mine Act. He approved the settlement for $330 and ordered payment by June…
Austin Power, Incorporated
Motion to amend citation granted
The Secretary sought to amend Citation No. 2339413 to allege, in the alternative, violations of 30 C.F.R. § 77.205(e) or § 77.404(a). Austin Power objected, arguing that the request was untimely and would prejudice its trial preparation. Judge George A. Koutras found that the factual basis for the…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Clarke v. T.P. Mining, Inc.
Motion for reconsideration denied
The Commission had previously found that Administrative Law Judge Joseph B. Kennedy and counsel for T.P. Mining engaged in a prohibited ex parte communication during a discrimination proceeding. Judge Kennedy moved for reconsideration, arguing that he lacked notice of the specific allegations and…
UMWA o/b/o Rowe v. Peabody Coal Company
Motion for reconsideration denied
The Commission had previously found that Administrative Law Judge Joseph B. Kennedy engaged in a prohibited ex parte communication, verbally abused attorneys, and commented publicly on a pending proceeding. Judge Kennedy moved for reconsideration, arguing that the Commission denied him due process…
Pontiki Coal Corporation
Settlement approval affirmed and unsupported comments struck
Pontiki Coal settled four contested violations arising from accumulations and equipment conditions at its Mine Number Two, with a total penalty of $7,500. The Commission held that the Administrative Law Judge went beyond the limited settlement record by making unsupported comments about advance…
Allstate Erectors, Inc.
Footwear citation and withdrawal order affirmed
Allstate Erectors was an independent contractor performing work at the Dallas Quarry and Plant, where employees were fabricating a handrail and handling other heavy materials. An inspector cited the company after a welder was observed wearing soft-toed leather shoes in an area where falling 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.