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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M A G Incorporated
Settlements totaling $21,000 approved across 14 dockets
M A G Incorporated contested 54 alleged safety and health violations across 14 dockets at Alloy Deep Mine No. 2. The parties reported that the operator was a small mine with poor financial condition, that no accidents or injuries resulted from the cited conditions, and that all conditions were…
Mid-Continent Resources Inc.
Partial settlement approved and decision amended
Mid-Continent Resources Inc. faced five orders involving alleged mine-safety violations at the Dutch Creek Mine. One order was pending discretionary review and another had already been reassessed and settled in a different docket, so Judge John J. Morris deleted both from this proceeding. The…
S & H Mining, Incorporated
Violations split, S&S findings reduced, and settlements approved
S & H Mining faced three consolidated dockets involving coal dust accumulations, directional control, escapeway water, and related conditions at its mine. Judge Gary Melick approved settlements in two dockets, vacated two citations, affirmed two violations without S&S findings, and assessed the…
Martin Sales & Processing
Summary default decision later vacated
Martin Sales & Processing failed to answer the Secretary's discovery requests and did not comply with orders directing it to respond. Judge George A. Koutras found the operator in default and entered summary default judgment for the Secretary on four consolidated dockets. The order directed…
Consolidation Coal Company
Escapeway citations resolved with $140 penalty
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal Company after finding widespread cracking in sealant on Kennedy stoppings separating escapeways at the Ireland Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman found violations of the escapeway separation standards, affirmed two citations, approved a settlement on a third citation, and…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved across consolidated penalty cases
Consolidation Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor presented settlements covering one contest proceeding and eleven civil penalty proceedings involving several coal mines. Judge David Barbour approved the settlements after finding them in the public interest. The order reduced or vacated several…
Andalex Resources, Inc.
Fire and escapeway citations split
Andalex Resources contested citations involving an inoperative fire suppression system and leaking drive-through doors that compromised separate underground escapeways. Judge John J. Morris found the fire suppression violation significant and substantial, and he affirmed the two escapeway…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved and citations partly modified
Consolidation Coal's five related dockets involved settlements and a contested roof-support order at the Blacksville No. 1 and No. 2 Mines. Judge James A. Broderick approved the proposed settlements, vacated one overlapping citation, and affirmed the remaining settled citations. On the contested…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Escapeway citation vacated and three citations modified
MSHA cited Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal over escapeway clearance at the Greenwich Collieries No. 2 Mine and over electrical equipment near a coal rib. Judge James A. Broderick found that the evidence did not establish that the alternate escapeway failed to allow passage of a disabled person, so he…
Windsor Coal Company
One order affirmed and one modified
MSHA cited Windsor Coal for unsafe roof conditions in a primary escapeway and for inadequate ventilation at a battery-charging station. Judge Gary Melick found the escapeway violation under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704 significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable failure, because warning tags and…
Energy Mining Corporation and/or Utah Power & Light Company
Wilberg Mine settlement approved
These consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings arose from the Wilberg Mine fire disaster in Utah. The ALJ approved a settlement resolving 24 alleged violations in three civil penalty dockets, reducing the outstanding total from $106,749 to a voluntary payment of $95,000. The order…
Beaver Creek Coal Company
One citation affirmed and one vacated
Beaver Creek Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a narrow man door and steps in an alternate escapeway and also found that two crosscuts had not been rock dusted. Judge John J. Morris affirmed the escapeway citation, finding that the passage did not ensure safe travel for miners…
Local Union 1810, UMWA v. Nacco Mining Company
Compensation affirmed and interest calculation modified
The United Mine Workers sought compensation for 87 miners who were idled after MSHA modified a withdrawal order at Nacco Mining's Powhatan No. 6 underground coal mine. The Commission held that a withdrawal-order modification can support a compensation claim and that Nacco could not challenge the…
Florence Mining Company
Remand penalty reduced to $100
The Commission had affirmed Florence Mining Company's violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704, reversed the findings of unwarrantable failure and significant and substantial violation, and remanded the case for reconsideration of the civil penalty. On remand, Judge William Fauver considered the Mine Act…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Escapeway violation affirmed, S&S and unwarrantable designations stricken
Mid-Continent Resources operated the Dutch Creek No. 1 underground coal mine. MSHA issued an order alleging that an intake-air escapeway was not maintained in a safe, travelable condition because of floor heaving, water, debris, and other tripping hazards. Judge John J. Morris rejected the…
Florence Mining Company
Escape-facility violation affirmed, aggravated findings reversed
Florence Mining removed an approved emergency escape hoist from service for about five and a half hours while miners were underground. The Commission affirmed that this violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704 because the approved plan required the hoist to remain available while miners were underground. It…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Withdrawal order invalid because abatement failure was not proved
Mid-Continent Resources was cited after water, mud, and heaved floor material obstructed an underground coal mine escapeway. A later inspector issued a section 104(b) withdrawal order, but the Commission found that the Secretary did not prove that the specific conditions described in the original…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Enforcement-discretion claims dismissed
Mid-Continent Resources contested an order alleging that an intake-air escapeway at the Dutch Creek Mine was not maintained in a safe, travelable condition. The company also claimed that MSHA had pursued an abusive enforcement policy against the mine. Judge John J. Morris held that the Commission…
Randy Rothermel, Individually and D/B/A Tracey & Partners
Multiple citations modified or vacated
The Secretary brought three consolidated civil penalty proceedings against Randy Rothermel and Tracey & Partners at the Tracey Slope Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found several violations involving escapeways, mine ventilation and maps, electrical equipment, and reporting requirements, while…
Beth Energy Mines, Inc.
Escapeway citations partly affirmed and one vacated
Beth Energy Mines operated the Cambria Slope No. 33 Mine. The case involved five alleged violations concerning escapeway conditions, roof support, and pressure separation. Judge Gary Melick approved a settlement reducing one order's penalty from $850 to $650, vacated Citation No. 2691158, and…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved and imminent-danger order vacated
Consolidation Coal contested an imminent-danger withdrawal order at the Matthews Mine and faced penalties for four alleged violations of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704. The parties stated that rock falls had blocked four areas of the intake escapeways, but that two traversable escapeways remained available…
Midacontinent Resources, Inc.
Escapeway orders modified and penalties assessed
Midacontinent Resources was cited after an obstructed return escapeway at its Dutch Creek No. 1 Mine was not maintained for safe passage. The judge found that a failure-to-abate withdrawal order was improperly issued because the evidence did not show that the original obstruction remained…
Nacco Mining Company
Idled miners entitled to compensation
Nacco Mining Company closed part of the Powhatan No. 6 Mine after MSHA found that an intake escapeway was not maintained for safe passage. The closure modification idled 87 miners for three days, and their union sought compensation under section 111 of the Mine Act. Judge William Fauver granted the…
Florence Mining Company
Hoist shutdown violation affirmed and $400 assessed
Florence Mining Company removed its approved emergency hoist from service for about five and one-half hours while miners were underground so the hoist rope could be replaced. Judge William Fauver found that the approved escape facilities plan and 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704 required the hoist to remain…
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.