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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Consolidation Coal Company
Two violations affirmed, two settlements approved
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine, where MSHA cited four conditions involving a danger sign near a roof fall, a non-fireproof oil and grease storage area, compressed gas cylinders near power lines, and a belt-conveyor guard. Judge David F. Barbour affirmed the…
R B Coal Company, Inc.,
R B Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 93-244, KENT 93-608): Roof-control violations modified and penalties assessed
MSHA alleged that R B Coal exceeded the 20-foot cut limit in its approved roof-control plan and also sought penalties for a separate order. Judge Gary Melick found that the two deep-cut violations were significant and substantial, but the Secretary did not prove unwarrantable failure because the…
S & H Mining, Incorporated
Roof-control and examination violations affirmed
MSHA cited S & H Mining after a roof fall at the No. 7 Mine injured helper Eddie Suttles and caused paralysis. The case involved an entry driven wider than the approved roof-control plan allowed, along with inadequate preshift and on-shift examinations and reporting. Judge Gary Melick found the…
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…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial citation and penalty decision
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine. Judge David F. Barbour approved a $20 settlement for one citation, found violations involving weekly examinations, permissibility, equipment safeguards, ventilation, and accumulations, and modified several citations and an order…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Ventilation citations affirmed without S&S findings
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal challenged three citations alleging that preshift examinations did not check air passing by openings to abandoned mine areas before that air mixed with other intake air. Judge Roy J. Maurer held that 30 C.F.R. § 75.311 required the examinations at or immediately inby the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Preshift-examination order modified
MSHA alleged that Consolidation Coal Company failed to conduct and record preshift examinations in a coal-mine tailgate entry where miners were working near water, trip hazards, and unstable roof. Judge Paul Merlin found the failure to conduct a preshift examination was significant and substantial…
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…
Toler Creek Energy, Inc.
Settlement partly approved and merger requests denied
Toler Creek Energy asked the judge to approve a settlement covering citations and orders at its No. 1 and No. 2 Mines. Judge William Fauver approved reduced penalties for six citations and orders, totaling $4,850, and required payment within 30 days. He denied requests to merge several other…
Beth Energy Mines, Inc.
Roof-control order modified and penalties assessed
Beth Energy and three of its agents were involved in a case about unsaddled roof beams in a haulage area at the Eighty Four Complex. The judge found that the beams violated the mine's roof control plan and that the area remained hazardous when a foreman authorized miners to enter and remove rail…
Mettiki Coal Company
Ventilation order vacated and other violations affirmed
Mettiki Coal Company faced consolidated proceedings involving ventilation, hoist-cable, and roof-control issues at the Mettiki Mine. Judge William Fauver vacated the order alleging that the mine's ventilation plan was violated because the cited areas carried intake air and complied with the plan…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Mixed settlement order with one citation vacated
Consolidation Coal Company faced alleged violations at several West Virginia mines involving belt examinations, unsupported roof, obstructions, roof supports, fire sensors, haulage protection, ventilation, float coal dust, bleeder evaluation, combustible material, and preshift examinations. Judge…
Sterling Energy, Inc.
Mine safety orders affirmed and two modified
Sterling Energy, Inc. operated the Sterling No. 5 Mine. MSHA cited roof control, preshift examination, conveyor guarding, ventilation, and airflow conditions, including an imminent-danger order and several unwarrantable-failure orders. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the cited violations and orders…
Stoney Coal Company
Ventilation order modified and $1,150 assessed
MSHA alleged that Stoney Coal used return air instead of a separate intake-air split while developing a mine entry and also cited a separate preshift-examination violation that the operator did not contest. Judge George A. Koutras vacated the unwarrantable-failure finding, modified the contested…
Bowling Mountain Mining Corporation
Fatal roof fall violations settled for $7,000
MSHA cited Bowling Mountain Mining Corporation for five violations after a roof fall at Mine No. 2 killed acting foreman Truman Faulkner. The violations concerned roof support, a required preshift examination, miner training, and reporting the fatal accident. The judge approved a settlement…
Quinland Coals, Inc.
Violations affirmed and unwarrantable-failure issue remanded
Quinland Coals operated an underground coal mine where an inspector found inadequate roof support near a seal and an inadequate preshift examination. The Commission affirmed the findings that Quinland violated 30 C.F.R. §§ 75.200 and 75.303 and was negligent regarding the roof-support violation. It…
Nacco Mining Company
Section 104(d) citation reinstated and remanded
Nacco Mining Company's miners' representative reported a long cut made under unsupported roof at the Powhatan No. 6 Mine. MSHA investigated after the event, issued a section 104(a) citation, and later modified it to a section 104(d)(1) citation alleging unwarrantable failure. The ALJ held that the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and contest dismissed for $1,900
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. faced three violations at the No. 4 Mine involving material transport, roof control, and inspection requirements. The original penalties totaled $2,600, and the parties proposed settlements totaling $1,900. Judge Paul Merlin approved the reductions for the…
Brent Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Alvin Casey claimed that Brent Coal Corporation laid him off because he refused to work under unsafe conditions. Judge James A. Broderick found that Casey's initial refusal to work before a seal was constructed was protected activity, but that Casey later quit after disputes about pay and a…
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.