Mining Incidents

Clover Patch (Bentonite LLC): 48 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Clover Patch Bentonite LLC · Surface
Controlled by Steven L Gritten
Post, Crook County, OR  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3503306

Clover Patch (Bentonite LLC) has $5K in proposed MSHA penalties and $400 outstanding across 1 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 2000
48
citations
9
significant & substantial
$4,694
proposed penalties
$4,294
paid to date
91% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $400 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
26
inspections on record
402
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: 402 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Clover Patch (Bentonite LLC) has $5K in proposed MSHA penalties and $400 outstanding across 1 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.
$5K
proposed penalties
$5K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$400
outstanding
47 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $824 in penalties contested before the Commission, $824 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-07-22.
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.
18.8%
significant & substantial
25.0%
high negligence or reckless
22.9%
reasonably likely or greater
68.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 10.4% low, 64.6% moderate, 25.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
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.
3 citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 3 · 100%
100%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$824 proposed, $824 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 2011-01-04.
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.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEST 2011-458M Default Lesnick 2011 $824 → $824
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), 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: 2005-05-04, 21 years ago
6
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz4
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (6)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2005-05-04 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.74 Crusher Oper/Worker
2004-03-17 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.59 Crusher Oper/Worker
2002-05-01 Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz 7.61 Dry Screen Plant Operator
2002-05-01 Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz 9.46 Scraper Operator
2001-07-18 Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz 5.67 Dry Screen Plant Operator
2001-07-18 Unlisted Particulate, total, <1% Qtz 16.4 Scraper 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. Clover Patch Inc 1988 to 2010
  2. Clover Patch Bentonite LLC 2010 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2014 3
2013 3
2012 3
2011 2
2010 3
2009 3
2008 2
2007 3
2006 1
2005 2
2004 2
2003 2
2002 2
2001 1
2000 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Clover Patch (Bentonite LLC) sits in Crook County, Oregon, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Crook County, Oregon · Population 25,651
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$81,675
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
2014 Q3 152 3 0 19736.8
2014 Q2 136 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 138 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 133 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 237 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 458 4 1 8733.6
2013 Q1 239 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 258 0 0 0.0
Show 47 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2012 Q3 350 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 252 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 184 1 0 5434.8
2011 Q3 306 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 303 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 248 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 332 4 3 12048.2
2010 Q3 362 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 244 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 282 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 288 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 340 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 155 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 250 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 182 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 281 2 0 7117.4
2008 Q2 216 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 224 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 330 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 136 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 55 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 240 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 512 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 505 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 996 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 573 5 1 8726.0
2005 Q1 625 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 684 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 1,008 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 984 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 600 5 0 8333.3
2003 Q4 736 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 1,056 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 520 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 504 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 702 1 0 1424.5
2002 Q3 1,014 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 965 7 2 7253.9
2002 Q1 504 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 512 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 1,002 4 0 3992.0
2001 Q2 512 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 512 7 1 13671.9
2000 Q4 504 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 954 5 1 5241.1
2000 Q2 520 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 472 0 0 0.0

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.