Blockhouse Butte Mine has $13K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2014
Latest incident
Jul 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
46
citations
7
significant & substantial
$12,691
proposed penalties
$12,286
paid to date
97% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $405 gap.
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: 247 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Blockhouse Butte Mine has $13K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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.
$13K
proposed penalties
$12K
current assessed
$12K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
42 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
Of $12K in penalties contested before the Commission, $11K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-05-07.
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.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
When citations were contested
ⓘContesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
36citations taken to the federal commission · 78% of citations on record
Settled
35 · 97%
Vacated or withdrawn
1 · 3%
67%
S&S designation survived the contest
ⓘCounts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 9 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
4%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$12K proposed, $11K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2016-09-12.
Contested penalties
ⓘA reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.
Largest penalties this mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
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: 2016-06-21, 10 years ago
1
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (1)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2016-06-21
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Supervisor, Co. Official
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2020
3
2019
2
2018
2
2017
2
2016
3
2015
3
2014
3
2013
3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Blockhouse Butte Mine sits in Klickitat County, Washington, where the Census mining category is 0.0% 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.
Klickitat County, Washington · Population 23,082
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$70,400
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
2020 Q2
85
0
0
0.0
2020 Q1
315
0
0
0.0
2019 Q4
797
0
0
0.0
2019 Q3
25
0
0
0.0
2019 Q2
156
4
0
25641.0
2019 Q1
87
0
0
0.0
2018 Q4
447
0
0
0.0
2018 Q3
22
0
0
0.0
Show 20 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2018 Q2
897
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
1,032
2
0
1938.0
2017 Q4
337
0
0
0.0
2017 Q3
839
0
0
0.0
2017 Q2
223
1
0
4484.3
2017 Q1
113
0
0
0.0
2016 Q4
278
0
0
0.0
2016 Q3
871
0
0
0.0
2016 Q2
213
3
1
14084.5
2016 Q1
326
0
0
0.0
2015 Q4
581
0
0
0.0
2015 Q3
692
6
1
8670.5
2015 Q2
499
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
176
0
0
0.0
2014 Q4
169
7
0
41420.1
2014 Q3
353
23
5
65155.8
2014 Q2
851
0
0
0.0
2014 Q1
1,477
0
0
0.0
2013 Q4
1,727
0
0
0.0
2013 Q3
692
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
1 on file
2014 · 1 incident
July 1, 2014WA · Metal/Non-Metallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanHANDLING OF MATERIALS