Mining Incidents

EL Jay 45 portable: 114 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

High Country Earth Works LLC · Surface
Controlled by Lee Bergeson
Philipsburg, Granite County, MT  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 2402149

EL Jay 45 portable has $57K in proposed MSHA penalties and $19K outstanding across 4 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 2005
114
citations
24
significant & substantial
$56,862
proposed penalties
$38,041
paid to date
67% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $18,821 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
44
inspections on record
453
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: 453 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: 2011-03-02.
On record since 2011.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

EL Jay 45 portable has $57K in proposed MSHA penalties and $19K outstanding across 4 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.
$57K
proposed penalties
$57K
current assessed
$38K
paid to date
$19K
outstanding
113 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $26K in penalties contested before the Commission, $26K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-06-18.
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.
21.2%
significant & substantial
11.5%
high negligence or reckless
21.2%
reasonably likely or greater
33.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.0% low, 80.5% moderate, 11.5% 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.
40 citations taken to the federal commission · 35% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 40 · 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 11 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$26K proposed, $26K 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 2017-09-19.
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 2017-0097 Default Lesnick 2017 $18K → $18K
WEST 2012-883M Default Lesnick 2013 $4K → $4K
WEST 2017-0689 Default Lesnick 2018 $3K → $3K
WEST 2012-884M Default Lesnick 2013 $663 → $663
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.

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2017-07-12, 9 years ago
1
samples
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Area sampled
2017-07-12 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.17 SF ACTIVE MINING
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. Jim Clark & Son Inc 1998 to 2004
  2. T & T Contracting Inc 2004 to 2022
  3. Rock It Crushing LLC 2022 to 2022
  4. High Country Earth Works LLC 2022 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 2
2025 1
2024 2
2023 2
2022 1
2017 2
2016 2
2015 3
2014 3
2012 3
2011 3
2010 3
2009 3
2008 5
2007 6
2006 5
2005 3
2004 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

EL Jay 45 portable sits in Granite County, Montana, where the Census mining category is 5.7% 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.
Granite County, Montana · Population 3,419
5.7%
Mining share of county employment
$54,646
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 Q1 640 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 100 3 0 30000.0
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 200 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 650 5 0 7692.3
2024 Q1 8 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 650 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 650 0 0 0.0
Show 43 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2023 Q2 650 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 410 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 46 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 1,042 9 1 8637.2
2017 Q2 695 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 185 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 301 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 643 28 9 43545.9
2016 Q2 601 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 1,548 12 3 7751.9
2014 Q4 1,785 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 1,103 1 0 906.6
2012 Q2 1,093 19 2 17383.3
2012 Q1 1,172 6 3 5119.5
2011 Q4 1,689 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,680 1 0 595.2
2011 Q2 1,680 1 0 595.2
2011 Q1 1,512 4 2 2645.5
2010 Q4 1,171 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,989 1 0 502.8
2010 Q2 1,574 3 0 1906.0
2010 Q1 1,571 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 1,215 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1,854 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 1,532 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1,302 5 2 3840.2
2008 Q4 1,920 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 3,725 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 997 4 1 4012.0
2007 Q4 4,368 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 3,684 3 0 814.3
2007 Q2 640 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 1,555 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 2,440 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 1,656 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 1,943 1 0 514.7
2006 Q1 1,805 1 0 554.0
2005 Q4 1,500 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,657 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 720 3 1 4166.7
2005 Q1 700 2 0 2857.1
2004 Q4 160 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 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.