Mining Incidents

Birdie Sand & Gravel: 16 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Low Impact Excavators, Inc. · Surface
Controlled by John J Wavrin
Ely, St Louis County, MN  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 2103801

Birdie Sand & Gravel has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2013
16
citations
1
significant & substantial
$2,391
proposed penalties
$2,391
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2013
19
inspections on record
143
inspection hours
n/a
citations per 100 inspection hours
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.
Rate withheld: 143 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2013-06-12.
On record since 2013.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Birdie Sand & Gravel has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
15 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-08-20.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.
6.7%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
6.7%
reasonably likely or greater
46.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 73.3% low, 26.7% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Health sampling
A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2020-05-05, 6 years ago
2
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2020-05-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2020-05-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Gathering Arm Operator
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Low Impact Excavators, Inc. 2013 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 2
2025 2
2024 2
2023 1
2022 2
2021 2
2020 1
2019 2
2018 1
2017 2
2016 2
2015 1
2014 2
2013 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Birdie Sand & Gravel sits in St. Louis County, Minnesota, where the Census mining category is 2.3% of county employment.

Local economic context
County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
St. Louis County, Minnesota · Population 200,056
2.3%
Mining share of county employment
$69,455
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2026 Q2 195 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 28 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 717 2 0 2789.4
2025 Q2 780 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 880 2 0 2272.7
2024 Q3 624 0 0 0.0
Show 45 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 400 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 0 0 0
2023 Q4 0 0 0
2023 Q3 832 1 0 1201.9
2023 Q2 576 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 284 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 424 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 626 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 186 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 353 1 0 2832.9
2021 Q2 597 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 203 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 393 1 0 2544.5
2020 Q1 0 0 0
2019 Q4 144 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 28 1 0 35714.3
2019 Q2 0 0 0
2019 Q1 0 0 0
2018 Q4 0 0 0
2018 Q3 374 1 0 2673.8
2018 Q2 128 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 0 0 0
2017 Q4 0 0 0
2017 Q3 454 4 0 8810.6
2017 Q2 48 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 322 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 61 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 148 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 0 0 0
2015 Q4 68 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 168 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 183 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 0 0 0
2014 Q4 0 0 0
2014 Q3 477 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 495 1 0 2020.2
2014 Q1 0 0 0
2013 Q4 89 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 105 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 128 2 1 15625.0

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.