Mining Incidents

Ellis Quarry 1 & 2: 1 recorded fatality Metal/Non-Metal

S. McClain Stone Co., Inc. · Surface
Controlled by Stacey McClain
Laceyville, Wyoming County, PA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3608983

Ellis Quarry 1 & 2 has $16K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Ellis Quarry 1 & 2.

Fatalities
1
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2001
Latest incident
May 2001
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2001
39
citations
18
significant & substantial
$16,332
proposed penalties
$16,332
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
23
inspections on record
524
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: 524 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Ellis Quarry 1 & 2 has $16K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$16K
proposed penalties
$16K
current assessed
$16K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
39 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $6K in penalties contested before the Commission, $6K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-07-18.
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.
46.2%
significant & substantial
28.2%
high negligence or reckless
46.2%
reasonably likely or greater
59.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 2.6% none, 10.3% low, 59.0% moderate, 28.2% 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.
9 citations taken to the federal commission · 23% of citations on record
  • Settled 9 · 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 3 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$6K proposed, $6K 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 2006-06-05.
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
PENN 2006-210 Settlement Melick 2006 $6K → $6K
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: 2001-06-13, 25 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
2001-06-13 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2001-06-13 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
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.

Ellis Quarry 1 & 2 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2019.

Injury rate, 2019
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.94 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
In Pennsylvania, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 2.74 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Ownership history
  1. Ellis Farm 2001 to 2005
  2. S. McClain Stone Co., Inc. 2005 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2024 1
2023 3
2022 4
2021 3
2020 2
2019 11
2018 7
2017 5
2008 0
2007 2
2006 4
2005 3
2002 2
2001 4
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Ellis Quarry 1 & 2 sits in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 1.5% 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.
Wyoming County, Pennsylvania · Population 26,075
1.5%
Mining share of county employment
$70,268
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
2024 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 952 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 1,685 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,472 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 1,901 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 1,802 6 3 3329.6
2022 Q3 1,926 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 1,987 0 0 0.0
Show 36 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2022 Q1 1,755 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 1,708 1 0 585.5
2021 Q3 1,900 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 320 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 1,560 2 1 1282.1
2020 Q4 1,250 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 960 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 1,890 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 543 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 4,160 2 1 480.8
2019 Q3 6,200 3 2 483.9
2019 Q2 6,815 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 3,748 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 4,073 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 4,158 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 4,412 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 598 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 1,542 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 1,891 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 0 0 0
2008 Q1 0 0 0
2007 Q4 0 0 0
2007 Q3 1,040 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 1,040 1 1 961.5
2007 Q1 978 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 700 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 720 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 999 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 961 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 4,960 4 1 806.5
2002 Q4 0 0 0
2002 Q2 1,190 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 653 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 1,421 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 736 8 4 10869.6

Fatalities at this mine

1 recorded
May 5, 2001 PA · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Ellis Farm · Struck by falling object

THE VICTIM WAS REPAIRING A SKID STEER LOADER WHEN THE HYDRAULICALLY-CONTROLLED LIFTING ARM WITH FORKS DROPPED, PINNING HIM TO GROUND