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Gerke Plant #1: 63 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Richard A Gerke
Tomah, Monroe County, WI  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4703357

Gerke Plant #1 has $8K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
3
Years on record
2013–2026
Latest incident
Jul 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2004
63
citations
12
significant & substantial
$8,139
proposed penalties
$8,063
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $76 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Gerke Excavating Inc's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2003
44
inspections on record
505
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: 505 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Gerke Plant #1 has $8K 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.
$8K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
63 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $176 in penalties contested before the Commission, $100 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-10-07.
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.
19.0%
significant & substantial
6.3%
high negligence or reckless
19.0%
reasonably likely or greater
55.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 30.2% low, 63.5% moderate, 6.3% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 2% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 100%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$176 proposed, $100 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 2014-06-29.
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
LAKE 2014-0564 Settlement Gill 2014 $176 → $100
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: 2020-11-05, 5 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
10
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg6
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (10)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2020-11-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2016-11-16 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Cleanup Man
2016-11-16 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.19 1.71 0.11 Front-end Loader Operator
2016-11-16 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.21 10 0.02 Front-end Loader Operator
2011-09-29 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.31 2.53 0.12 Front-end Loader Operator
2011-09-29 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Bobcat Operator
2004-02-25 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2004-02-25 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.2 Bulldozer Operator
2004-02-25 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2004-02-25 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 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.
Ownership history
  1. Gerke Excavating Inc 2003 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 4
2025 6
2024 7
2023 6
2022 8
2021 5
2020 6
2019 6
2018 7
2017 5
2016 5
2015 5
2014 5
2013 6
2012 6
2011 6
2010 5
2009 6
2008 3
2007 3
2006 4
2005 1
2004 2
2003 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Gerke Plant #1 sits in Monroe County, Wisconsin, where the Census mining category is 1.6% 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.
Monroe County, Wisconsin · Population 46,169
1.6%
Mining share of county employment
$68,213
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 1,504 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 988 1 0 1012.1
2025 Q3 4,286 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 1,941 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 1,921 2 0 1041.1
2024 Q4 1,656 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 3,568 0 0 0.0
Show 85 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,732 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 445 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 2,279 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 2,693 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 3,326 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 5,328 2 1 375.4
2022 Q3 4,901 1 0 204.0
2022 Q2 4,041 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 2,176 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 1,278 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 158 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 676 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 4,059 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 2,461 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 2,396 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 3,655 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,780 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 2,304 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 0 0 0
2018 Q4 1,629 1 1 613.9
2018 Q3 3,204 2 1 624.2
2018 Q2 1,500 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 1,282 1 0 780.0
2017 Q4 1,988 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 1,399 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 1,912 1 0 523.0
2017 Q1 719 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,226 3 0 2447.0
2016 Q3 1,226 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 1,931 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 617 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 2,046 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 1,419 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 1,508 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1,160 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 2,380 2 0 840.3
2014 Q3 2,361 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 3,546 9 2 2538.1
2014 Q1 1,107 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 2,133 2 1 937.6
2013 Q3 3,359 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 2,987 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 1,137 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 3,791 6 1 1582.7
2012 Q3 2,984 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 2,861 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 871 2 0 2296.2
2011 Q4 2,141 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 4,947 8 2 1617.1
2011 Q2 5,860 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 1,823 4 1 2194.2
2010 Q4 3,387 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 5,136 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 1,450 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1,307 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 3,370 2 1 593.5
2009 Q3 2,310 1 1 432.9
2009 Q2 3,464 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 592 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 2,107 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 3,140 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 2,431 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 3 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 3,402 6 0 1763.7
2007 Q3 3,652 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 0 0 0
2007 Q1 109 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 1,876 3 0 1599.1
2006 Q3 1,425 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 1,137 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 0 0 0
2005 Q4 149 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 527 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 86 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 0 0 0
2004 Q4 147 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 250 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 640 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 502 1 0 1992.0
2003 Q4 152 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 980 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 930 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

3 on file

2026 · 1 incident

July 29, 2026 WI · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Gerke Excavating Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Jaw plugged up with rock, so we were getting the smaller ones out of the way to get to the big rocks and another employee accidentally threw a rock on employees hand as employee was reaching down to grab a rock

2020 · 1 incident

January 8, 2020 WI · Metal/Non-Metal outside foreman, leadman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Gerke Excavating Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Changing screens, spring broke rod popped off and hit miner on top of hard hat. Contusion to forehead from impact of hard hat to head.

2013 · 1 incident

August 29, 2013 WI · Metal/Non-Metal outside foreman, leadman POWERED HAULAGE
Gerke Excavating Inc · Struck by falling object

While performing clean up duties, a rock fell off of the conveyor striking the employee in the top of the ear. Employee was wearing full PPE, including a hardhat, safety glasses and steel toe boots. Sutures were required for the top of the ear.