Mining Incidents

Fitch Road Pit: 1 recorded fatality Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Perry Thompson
Alturas, CA, Modoc County, CA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 0403367

Fitch Road Pit has $99K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
1
Total incidents
2
Years on record
1995–2012
Latest incident
Sep 2012
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
137
citations
30
significant & substantial
$98,709
proposed penalties
$61,045
paid to date
62% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $37,664 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
45
inspections on record
1,040
inspection hours
13.2
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.
137 citations across 1,040 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Fitch Road Pit has $99K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 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.
$99K
proposed penalties
$61K
current assessed
$61K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
134 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $80K in penalties contested before the Commission, $43K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-03-05.
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.
22.1%
significant & substantial
7.4%
high negligence or reckless
22.1%
reasonably likely or greater
72.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.8% low, 83.8% moderate, 7.4% 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 · 7% 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 6 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
47%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$80K proposed, $43K 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 2014-01-14.
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 2013-798M Settlement Miller 2013 $70K → $35K
WEST 2014-279M Settlement Moran 2015 $8K → $7K
WEST 2013-602M Settlement Miller 2013 $2K → $1K
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: 2023-06-12, 3 years ago
17%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
8
samples
6
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz61 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Show the individual readings (8)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2017-06-21 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.7 1.19 1.43 Dry Screen Plant Operator
2023-06-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2021-04-07 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Scale Man
2017-08-16 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.23 1.11 0.21 Dry Screen Plant Operator
2015-08-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.43 1.53 0.28 Mechanic
2015-08-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.55 1.66 0.33 Cleanup Man
2009-07-07 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.35 1.83 0.19 Cleanup Man
2009-07-07 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.61 0.85 0.72 Front-end Loader 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.

Fitch Road Pit recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2001.

Injury rate, 2001
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 4.48 and the all-US-mining average was 5.26 cases per 100 workers.
In California, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 5.17 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. Fitch Gravel Company 1987 to 1994
  2. Eagle Peak Rock and Paving 1995 to 2021
  3. Hat Creek Construction & Materials Inc 2022 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 7
2025 7
2024 6
2023 5
2022 5
2021 5
2020 5
2019 5
2018 5
2017 6
2016 6
2015 6
2014 5
2013 6
2012 6
2011 5
2010 5
2009 5
2008 5
2007 8
2006 7
2005 5
2004 4
2003 12
2002 23
2001 28
2000 26
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Fitch Road Pit sits in Modoc County, California, 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.
Modoc County, California · Population 8,646
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$56,648
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 1,610 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 573 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 2,255 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 2,293 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 1,349 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 483 1 0 2070.4
2024 Q4 6,321 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 5,642 0 0 0.0
Show 96 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,819 1 0 354.7
2024 Q1 136 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 1,635 4 1 2446.5
2023 Q3 1,778 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 906 4 0 4415.0
2023 Q1 444 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 1,336 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 1,479 3 0 2028.4
2022 Q2 931 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 593 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 1,129 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 2,661 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 2,341 8 2 3417.3
2021 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 1,053 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 2,658 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 2,290 2 0 873.4
2020 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 323 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,957 7 2 2367.3
2019 Q2 2,660 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,206 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 4,034 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 1,423 3 0 2108.2
2018 Q1 10 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 1,149 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 2,340 1 1 427.4
2017 Q2 2,840 3 0 1056.3
2017 Q1 8 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,464 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 2,389 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 2,768 3 0 1083.8
2016 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 1,775 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 3,035 8 2 2635.9
2015 Q2 1,989 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 1,031 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 2,179 3 0 1376.8
2014 Q2 1,153 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 2 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 1,823 7 4 3839.8
2013 Q3 2,465 1 0 405.7
2013 Q2 1,801 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 256 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 2,153 16 5 7431.5
2012 Q3 4,521 3 0 663.6
2012 Q2 595 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 1,960 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 2,641 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 2,166 5 4 2308.4
2011 Q1 2 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 1,978 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,946 9 2 4624.9
2010 Q2 595 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 1,196 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 3,575 4 1 1118.9
2009 Q2 137 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 675 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,387 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 663 3 1 4524.9
2008 Q1 88 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 3,722 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 3,553 8 1 2251.6
2007 Q2 4,180 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 3,174 1 0 315.1
2006 Q3 4,752 2 0 420.9
2006 Q2 3,678 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 1,845 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 2,166 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 2,813 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 1,172 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 0 0 0
2004 Q4 1,333 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 2,069 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 195 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 0 0 0
2003 Q4 1,099 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 931 1 0 1074.1
2003 Q2 9,420 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 6,330 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 9,432 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 13,162 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 10,051 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 12,746 4 2 313.8
2001 Q3 16,562 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 10,358 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 5,097 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 12,093 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 14,613 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 5,428 0 0 0.0

Fatalities at this mine

1 recorded
September 26, 2012 CA · Metal/Non-Metal outside foreman, leadman Fatality · MACHINERY
Eagle Peak Rock and Paving · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Miner was kneeling on left track of dozer attempting to adjust the throttle linkage when the dozer went to full throttle and began moving forward, sending the miner to the front of the dozer, resulting in him being run over and crushed by the machine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file (excluding fatalities above)

1995 · 1 incident

July 31, 1995 CA · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Eagle Peak Rock and Paving · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

TRIED TO TURN OFF A BELT SLIPPED, ARM WENT THROUGH LADDER AND PULLE DARM BACK. SOMETHING POPPED IN ARM.