Mining Incidents

Gerke Plant #5: 16 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Richard A Gerke
Tomah, Monroe County, WI  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4703710

Gerke Plant #5 has $2K 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
1
Years on record
2015
Latest incident
May 2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2014
16
citations
3
significant & substantial
$1,886
proposed penalties
$1,886
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2014
30
inspections on record
264
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: 264 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 #5 has $2K 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.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
16 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $118 in penalties contested before the Commission, $118 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-06-02.
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
18.8%
reasonably likely or greater
6.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 25.0% low, 50.0% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 100%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$118 proposed, $118 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 2018-01-31.
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 2018-0131 Settlement Manning 2018 $118 → $118
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: 2021-06-03, 5 years ago
3
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg3
Show the individual readings (3)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2021-06-03 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2021-06-03 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2017-03-29 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. 2014 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2025 0
2024 6
2023 4
2022 5
2021 8
2020 4
2019 7
2018 6
2017 3
2016 5
2015 5
2014 6
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Gerke Plant #5 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
2025 Q3 0 0 0
2025 Q2 0 0 0
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 2,199 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 2,413 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 1,424 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 780 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 1,863 0 0 0.0
Show 38 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2023 Q3 1,802 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,425 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 1,742 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 2,243 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 590 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 3,175 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 4,139 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 3,890 3 1 771.2
2021 Q1 1,116 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 871 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 631 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 290 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 1,308 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 3,318 2 0 602.8
2019 Q3 3,693 2 2 541.6
2019 Q2 869 1 0 1150.7
2019 Q1 582 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 3,914 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 3,826 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 2,172 2 0 920.8
2018 Q1 1,733 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 1,061 1 0 942.5
2017 Q3 1,230 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 1,470 1 0 680.3
2017 Q1 484 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,442 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 1,135 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 1,201 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 1,793 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 272 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 2,721 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 2,322 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1,494 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 2,931 1 0 341.2
2014 Q3 1,317 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 1,251 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2015 · 1 incident

May 11, 2015 WI · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Gerke Excavating, Inc. · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

While moving stuck material while plant was shut down and locked out a rock struck his right thumb. Employee thought that it was only bruised but went to the dr. the following day and discovered it was fractured.