Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Secretary of Labor v. Big Ridge, Inc.
Tool-transport safeguard upheld and citation remanded
MSHA cited Big Ridge after mantrips transported miners with bundles of roof bolts, chain hangers, and a bucket of chain. An ALJ vacated the citation after finding that the underlying safeguard did not identify the hazard with enough specificity. The Commission reversed, holding that the safeguard…
Secretary of Labor v. Sally Ann Coal Company, Inc.
Five litigated violations bring $32,017 penalty
MSHA issued orders involving newly hired experienced-miner training, roof-bolt spacing, a fractured boom-hole roof, a missing preshift examination, and weekly seal examinations at Sally Ann Coal's No. 2 Mine. Judge Janet G. Harner affirmed high-negligence S&S findings for the failure to train eight…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
Nineteen miners awarded $13,150.48 plus interest
The United Steelworkers sought Mine Act compensation for miners affected by section 103(k) withdrawal orders at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine. An earlier ALJ order determined which miners qualified, and the parties then stipulated that 19 miners were owed compensation for work performed from December 6…
Secretary of Labor v. Peninsula Topsoil
Default reopened after procedural misunderstanding
Peninsula Topsoil asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case that defaulted after it did not answer the Secretary's petition or the Chief ALJ's show-cause order. The operator attributed the failure to a miscommunication or misunderstanding of Commission procedures. The Secretary did not oppose…
Gasco Energy, Inc.
In re Gasco Energy, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 14-191): permit remanded for reconsideration
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance petitioned for review of an Underground Injection Control permit that EPA Region 8 issued to Gasco Energy, Inc. for a Class II enhanced oil recovery well in Uintah County, Utah. Region 8 asked the Board to remand the permit after determining that it had not fully…
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Oral argument set on repeated flagrant standard
MSHA designated extensive coal-dust and coal-fines accumulations along a conveyor entry as a repeated flagrant violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.400. Judge Jerold Feldman identified the unresolved issue as whether those accumulations could substantially and proximately cause serious injury or death…
Secretary of Labor v. Brian English, employed by Barnes Paving Company, Inc.
Default reopened after petition went to wrong address
Brian English timely contested a proposed individual penalty but later defaulted after failing to answer the Secretary's penalty petition. English stated that he received no further correspondence until a collection agency contacted him. The Secretary confirmed that the petition had been mailed to…
Charles River Pollution Control District
In re Charles River Pollution Control District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 14-01): Municipal satellite systems upheld as co-permittees
Charles River Pollution Control District operated a wastewater treatment plant in Medway, Massachusetts, that received wastewater from satellite sewer systems owned by four towns. The towns and the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District challenged their inclusion as co-permittees on…
Secretary of Labor v. Freeport-McMoRan Tyrone, Inc.
Default reopened during settlement discussions
Freeport-McMoRan Tyrone asked the Commission to reopen a penalty proceeding that defaulted when the company did not answer the Secretary's petition or the Chief ALJ's show-cause order. Freeport explained that ongoing discussions with the Secretary, which produced a proposed settlement, contributed…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Gary Kittelson v. Northern Aggregate, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement reduction and expedited hearing denied
Northern Aggregate asked to reduce Gary Kittelson's temporary economic reinstatement from $1,716 per week to about $600 per week because the company said winter operations brought lower hours and pay. Judge John Kent Lewis held that pay stubs for one miner did not prove that all comparable miners…
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Two poultry-plant shaft-guarding items affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA found unguarded rotating shafts on chicken-cutting saws and an unguarded projecting shaft end at a Sanderson Farms processing plant. The judge held that the saw arbor was an integral part of the power-transmission shaft and that the specific guarding standards required physical guards without…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of David S. Wood v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Temporary reinstatement terminated after mine closure
Highland Mining permanently closed Mine No. 9 and carried out a mass layoff that included David Wood, who had been working under a temporary reinstatement order. The Secretary agreed that Wood should be placed in non-pay status because the closure would have ended his employment regardless of the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of David S. Wood v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Original temporary reinstatement termination order
Highland Mining permanently closed Mine No. 9 and carried out a mass layoff that included David Wood, who had been working under a temporary reinstatement order. The Secretary agreed that Wood should be placed in non-pay status because the closure would have ended his employment regardless of the…
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Co., LLC
Four litigated citations bring $15,096 penalty
MSHA litigated four citations against Highland Mining involving loose ribs, two misaligned conveyor belts, and an inadequate on-shift examination. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews affirmed the loose-rib violation but changed it to unlikely and non-S&S because miners traveled the area infrequently, reducing…
Joleen Olson v. Cordero Mine, LLC
Directed verdict dismisses discrimination complaint
Joleen Olson alleged that Cordero Mine fired her after a workplace dispute involving caution tape placed around a forklift route. Judge William B. Moran accepted that Olson used the tape for a legitimate safety reason, but found that the conflict remained an employee-to-employee dispute. Olson…
Chem-Solv, Inc. and Austin Holdings
In re Chem-Solv, Inc. and Austin Holdings (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 14-02): liability findings and penalties affirmed
Chem-Solv and Austin Holdings appealed an ALJ decision arising from EPA Region III's enforcement action at Chem-Solv's chemical blending and distribution facility in Roanoke, Virginia. The ALJ found seven RCRA violations involving an unpermitted hazardous-waste storage facility, waste…
Chem-Solv, Inc. and Austin Holdings
In re Chem-Solv, Inc. and Austin Holdings (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 14-02): Hazardous waste violations affirmed
Chem-Solv operated a chemical blending and distribution facility in Roanoke, Virginia, and Austin Holdings owned the land. EPA alleged that the companies stored hazardous waste without a permit, failed to make required hazardous waste determinations, and violated rules for tanks, inspections, air…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Buchanan Mining Company, LLC
Two fatal-accident violations affirmed with $140,000 penalty
While miners were transporting a shuttle car through Buchanan Mine #1, the load struck a pressurized-water manifold and tore it from the mine's firefighting line. A damaged 1½-inch valve that had previously been torn apart was reused in the assembly, and the upstream 6-inch shutoff valve could not…
Secretary of Labor v. Duke's Sand & Gravel
All 22 violations upheld, penalties reduced to $2,085
MSHA found 21 section 104(a) violations and one section 104(g)(1) training order during Duke's Sand & Gravel's first inspection. The one-employee operation lacked required filings, guards, electrical protections, first-aid coverage, firefighting equipment, miner training, berms, sanitation…
Scott McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Discovery extended and three depositions ordered
Scott McGlothlin sought five depositions shortly before the discovery deadline in his discrimination case against Dominion Coal. Dominion said scheduling conflicts prevented it from producing three company-connected witnesses before the existing deadline and declined to agree to an extension. Judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Speed Mining, LLC
Secretary allowed to increase gravity allegations and proposed penalties
The Secretary moved to amend three orders before hearing to allege more serious gravity and increase the proposed penalties. Two orders would change the expected injury from lost workdays to fatal. The third would change from unlikely to reasonably likely, add an S&S designation, and change the…
Secretary of Labor v. Justice Energy Company, Inc.
Equipment citations yield mixed result and $45,088 penalty
MSHA cited Justice Energy for oil accumulations and mechanical defects on mobile equipment at the Red Fox Surface Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman vacated four motor-oil fire-hazard citations because the Secretary did not show exposure to temperatures high enough to produce ignitable vapor. He upheld…
Secretary of Labor v. Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc.
$5,000 bad-roof penalty retained on remand
An earlier decision affirmed an S&S, high-negligence citation for bad roof in the Horizon Mine's secondary escapeway and assessed $5,000 against the Secretary's proposed $6,458. The Commission left the penalty in place but remanded for a fuller explanation. Judge Richard W. Manning addressed each…
Paramont Coal Co. Virginia, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Safeguard contest dismissed as duplicative
Paramont Coal separately contested a notice of safeguard issued at Deep Mine #26. The Secretary moved to dismiss for lack of Commission jurisdiction, while Paramont disputed that jurisdictional argument. Judge L. Zane Gill declined to decide the jurisdiction question and instead dismissed the…
Scott McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Notary deposition quashed as irrelevant
Dominion Coal sought to depose Sheila Kiser, who notarized a power of attorney from Scott McGlothlin to his wife. Dominion hoped to investigate whether McGlothlin's later Part 90 application was signed or filed when claimed and whether the power of attorney had been backdated. Judge Jerold Feldman…
Secretary of Labor v. Sierra Rock Products, Inc.
Electrical-order negligence and unwarrantable failure remanded
Sierra Rock's owner reached into an energized electrical panel and flipped breakers after an MSHA inspector told him to shut off the plant's main power before opening the panel. A judge affirmed the violation and S&S designation but removed unwarrantable failure, reduced negligence from reckless…
Secretary of Labor v. ICG Illinois, LLC
Refuge citation affirmed and penalty reduced to $25,000
The Viper Mine's refuge alternative was about 1,110 feet from the nearest working face, exceeding the 1,000-foot maximum. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews found the violation S&S because the methane-prone mine had a history of ignitions, an emergency could impair visibility and movement, and the extra…
M.A. Mortenson Company
Fire-extinguisher hazard-communication items vacated under consumer-product exception
OSHA cited Mortenson for omitting ten-pound ABC fire extinguishers from its hazardous-chemical list and for not keeping their safety data sheets onsite. The judge found that the extinguishers qualified for the hazard communication standard's consumer-product exception. They were sold for consumer…
Matter of Juan ESQUIVEL-QUINTANA, Respondent
Matter of Juan ESQUIVEL-QUINTANA (BIA ID 3824): a three-year age gap can satisfy the minor-abuse category
The Board reviewed the removal order of a Mexican lawful permanent resident convicted under California Penal Code section 261.5(c) for unlawful intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than him. The Board held that an offense that can involve a 16- or 17-year-old victim must require a…
U.S. Utility Contractor Company
EAJA fees awarded after unsupported electrical citation
U.S. Utility prevailed when the judge vacated a serious electrical citation based on a worker's claim that he had been shocked while stripping wire. The judge found OSHA's position was not substantially justified because repeated tests showed the circuit was dead, tools and breakers showed no…
Vanderbilt Minerals, LLC
In re Vanderbilt Minerals, LLC (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 14-04C): $131,188 penalty paid
EPA's Office of Civil Enforcement alleged that Vanderbilt Minerals, LLC violated sections 5(e), 12(b), and 13 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The complaint sought a $131,188 penalty. Vanderbilt paid the full amount before the EAB issued its Final Order, which resolved the matter civilly and…
Matter of O. A. HERNANDEZ, Respondent
Matter of O. A. HERNANDEZ (BIA ID 3823): reckless deadly conduct is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the removal order of a Mexican respondent convicted in Texas of deadly conduct, which prohibits recklessly placing another person in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. The Board held that the offense categorically involves moral turpitude because the reckless conduct…
Secretary of Labor v. Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Kettle-bottom roof citation affirmed with $5,080 penalty
A partially fallen kettle bottom in the Horse Creek Eagle Mine roof had one metal strap installed below and off center from the opening. Judge Margaret A. Miller credited the inspector's conclusion that the strap would not catch the remaining dense rock when it fell, so the mine failed to provide…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
Duplicate release of citation-settlement correction
This is a second official FMSHRC posting of the same January 5, 2015 amendment separately listed in the agency archive. Judge Richard W. Manning amended a footnote in his December 23, 2014 partial-summary-decision order concerning compensation for Lucky Friday Mine workers. The correction records…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
Partial-summary order corrected to reflect citation settlement
Judge Richard W. Manning amended a footnote in his December 23, 2014 partial-summary-decision order concerning compensation for Lucky Friday Mine workers. The earlier footnote quoted Citation No. 8565565 without noting that the parties had settled the citation and deleted one inaccurate sentence…
Mondo Construction Company, LLC
Trench items affirmed but repeat classification rejected
Mondo employees worked in a utility trench with deep side channels while installing plywood shoring that lacked the braces required by the company's engineering plan. The judge measured the excavation from the channels because they extended to the walls and increased the wall load, making the…
Secretary of Labor v. Harry C. Crooker & Sons, Inc.
Timely answer makes default order a nullity
The Chief Administrative Law Judge entered a default after the record appeared to show that Harry C. Crooker & Sons had not answered an order to show cause. Crooker later sought reopening and asserted that it had mailed a timely answer to both the Labor Department and the Commission. The Secretary…
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor; Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-82-R, et al.): POV ruling certified for review but stay denied
After dismissing MSHA's pattern-of-violations notice against Brody Mining, Judge William B. Moran agreed that immediate Commission review could materially advance the consolidated proceedings because 357 non-S&S citations and orders remained unresolved. He therefore certified controlling legal…
Secretary of Labor v. Sierra Rock & Dirt, Inc.
Answer under companion docket nullifies default
The Secretary's penalty case against Sierra Rock & Dirt was split into two dockets, WEST 2014-41-M and WEST 2014-42-M. Sierra timely answered all citations in both cases, but the answer displayed only the first docket number. Because the second docket appeared unanswered, a show-cause order later…
Secretary of Labor v. 80th Street Aggregates
Default vacated after misdirected answer
80th Street Aggregates defaulted after its answer to a penalty petition did not appear in the case record. The operator sought reopening and supplied delivery receipts supporting its claim that it responded to the Commission in February 2013. It also sent an answer to MSHA in July, but used MSHA's…
Secretary of Labor v. Austin Powder Company
Missed penalty contest reopened over dissent
Austin Powder missed the 30-day deadline to contest a proposed penalty because its safety specialist waited for instructions from managers and did not send the assessment to counsel. The Commission majority reopened the final assessment in the interest of justice, noting that Austin had changed its…
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
Vehicle lockout case reinstated because manuals were not incorporated
A Spirit mechanic was killed when a diesel truck moved after he bypassed starter safety switches while standing in the engine compartment. OSHA alleged that Spirit lacked specific written energy-control procedures for vehicle maintenance, but the judge dismissed the case after the Secretary's…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Ownership-change penalty default reopened
Consolidation Coal failed to contest a proposed penalty within 30 days after a change in ownership led to miscommunication about responsibility for filing contest forms. The assessment therefore became a final Commission order. Consolidation sought reopening, and the Secretary did not oppose relief…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Ownership-transition default reopened over dissent
Consolidation Coal missed the 30-day deadline to contest a penalty assessment after Murray Energy acquired the Blacksville No. 2 Mine and responsibility for filing contest forms became unclear. The Commission majority reopened the assessment in the interest of justice and remanded for the Secretary…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
Compensation limited to stress-gauge noncompliance period
Hecla failed to take stress-gauge readings required by a section 103(k) order modification before a December 14, 2011 rockburst at the Lucky Friday Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning held that fourth-sentence section 111 compensation applied only to miners who worked in the affected area while that…
Secretary of Labor v. Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc.
Three penalty rulings clarify Commission discretion and statutory minimums
The Commission reviewed three Hidden Splendor penalty assessments. It affirmed a $4,000 penalty for sending two untrained miners underground, holding that the foreman's immediate removal of the crew could mitigate the penalty even though the violation remained S&S, high-negligence, and…
Secretary of Labor v. C. S. & S. Coal Corporation
Second incorrect-address default reopened
C. S. & S. Coal had already obtained reopening after proposed assessments were sent to an incorrect address. The later penalty petition and show-cause order were again delivered to that same wrong address, causing another default. The operator said it had monitored the case and first learned of the…
Secretary of Labor v. Bluestone Quarries, Inc.
Default remanded to determine whether answer was mailed
Bluestone Quarries claimed it timely answered an order to show cause by certified mail and supplied a copy of the answer plus an email confirming mailing, but it lacked the certified-mail receipt proving delivery. The Secretary opposed reopening because the Commission had no record of the answer…
Secretary of Labor v. M-Class Mining, LLC
Narrow-escapeway citation affirmed and extinguisher citation vacated
M-Class Mining stored a transformer, cable tub, and water pump beside a conveyor in the alternate escapeway, narrowing the route from the required 6 feet to as little as 15 inches. A four-person stretcher team had to line up, lift the stretcher overhead, and slide it across equipment, which did not…
Magruder Limestone Co., Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
EAJA fees denied despite reduced citation and vacated order
Magruder Limestone sought attorney fees after an underlying decision reduced a fall-protection citation from unwarrantable failure and high negligence to moderate negligence, cut its penalty from $52,500 to $16,509, and vacated a lockout order. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy denied the Equal Access to…
Secretary of Labor v. Kirk Fenoff & Son Excavating
Mine Act interrogatories presumptively limited to 25
Kirk Fenoff & Son initially served 64 interrogatories in a case involving two related highwall orders, then reduced the request to 39 after court-directed discussions. The Secretary sought a 25-question limit. Judge William B. Moran held that Commission procedural rules govern the scope of…
Secretary of Labor v. DQ Fire & Explosion Consultants, Inc.
High negligence affirmed for unauthorized accident-zone entry
After the Upper Big Branch explosion killed 29 miners and injured two, a section 103(k) order restricted investigative access to Zone 5, the suspected origin area. DQ Fire & Explosion Consultants entered Zone 5 on January 11 and 12, 2011 without obtaining the required formal modification. The…
Secretary of Labor v. DQ Fire & Explosion Consultants, Inc.
Scientific consultant training order vacated for lack of fair notice
DQ's scientific consultant investigated the Upper Big Branch explosion underground after receiving hazard training but not the 40-hour comprehensive training required for new miners. The Commission vacated the withdrawal order and $112 penalty because DQ lacked fair notice that the consultant fell…
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
In re Joint Base Lewis-McChord Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 13-09): petition dismissed after settlement
The United States Department of the Army petitioned for review of an NPDES permit for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord municipal separate storm sewer system. The Army later moved to dismiss the petition with prejudice, reporting that the parties had reached a settlement agreement resolving the issues…
Buckley Air Force Base Municipal Storm Sewer System
In re Buckley Air Force Base Municipal Storm Sewer System (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 13-07): petition dismissed after ADR
The United States Department of the Air Force petitioned for review of an NPDES permit for the Buckley Air Force Base municipal storm sewer system. The Air Force later moved to dismiss the petition with prejudice, reporting that the parties had resolved all outstanding issues through the EAB's…
Davis H. Elliot Construction Company, Inc.
Outrigger-pad item affirmed and qualified-worker item vacated
A line worker was injured while transferring energized power lines from an old utility pole to a new one from an aerial-lift bucket. The judge affirmed an outrigger item because the truck's rear outriggers were set on loose garden soil without separate pads, and the electrical-line standard did not…
Southern Pan Services Co.
Parking-garage collapse items remanded under exposing-employer and supervisor-knowledge rules
A parking garage partially collapsed during a concrete pour, killing one Southern Pan employee and injuring another along with more than twenty workers. The Commission held that the construction-load standard applied to the conditions and that Southern Pan, as an exposing employer, could have a…
Daniel B. Lowe v. Veris Gold USA, Inc.
Bankruptcy stay did not halt discrimination claim
Daniel Lowe brought a personal Mine Act discrimination complaint against Veris Gold USA while the company was subject to a Chapter 15 bankruptcy stay. Veris argued that the bankruptcy court's injunction barred the administrative case and that Lowe's claim did not qualify for the governmental…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Justin Greenwell v. Armstrong Coal Company
Miner directed to file separate claim against coworker
Justin Greenwell alleged that coworker Chris Oglesby threatened him after he reported concerns about respirable dust sampling at Armstrong Coal Company's Parkway Mine. The Secretary filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Armstrong based on allegations that the company encouraged…
Energy Answers LLC
In re Energy Answers LLC (EAB PSD Appeal No. 14-07): appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Leonardo Ramos-Hernandez petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board to review a permit issued by Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board to Energy Answers LLC. He characterized the permit as a Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit. The Board determined that the permit was…
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.