Mining Incidents

GRAROK, LLC LOWVILLE: 1 recorded fatality Metal/Non-Metal

Lowville, Lewis County, NY  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 3003570

GRAROK, LLC LOWVILLE has $187K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 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
2009–2013
Latest incident
Aug 2013
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
80
citations
29
significant & substantial
$187,332
proposed penalties
$187,181
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $151 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
29
inspections on record
795
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: 795 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

GRAROK, LLC LOWVILLE has $187K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 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.
$187K
proposed penalties
$187K
current assessed
$187K
paid to date
$151
outstanding
78 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $164K in penalties contested before the Commission, $164K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-07-23.
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.
36.7%
significant & substantial
17.7%
high negligence or reckless
36.7%
reasonably likely or greater
51.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 7.6% low, 74.7% moderate, 13.9% high, 3.8% 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.
7 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Settled 7 · 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 7 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$164K proposed, $164K 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 2014-04-09.
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
YORK 2014-0123 Settlement Paez 2014 $158K → $158K
YORK 2014-44M Settlement Paez 2014 $6K → $6K
YORK 2014-45M Settlement Paez 2014 $243 → $243
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: 2023-03-08, 3 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
11
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg6
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz3
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (11)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2023-03-08 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.21 Backhoe Operator
2023-03-08 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2023-03-08 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2021-04-27 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2021-04-27 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.3 Crusher Oper/Worker
2013-10-29 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2013-10-29 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.21 1.83 0.11 Washer Operator
2013-10-29 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.27 10 0.03 Complete Load-Haul-Dump
2009-04-01 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.12 10 0.01 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-04-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-04-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
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. MJL Crushing LLC 2006 to 2020
  2. GraRok, LLC Lowville 2020 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 3
2025 5
2024 6
2023 6
2022 7
2021 6
2020 6
2019 5
2018 5
2017 5
2016 4
2015 4
2014 4
2013 3
2012 3
2011 3
2010 3
2009 4
2008 4
2007 0
2006 0
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

GRAROK, LLC LOWVILLE sits in Lewis County, New York, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Lewis County, New York · Population 26,618
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$68,329
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 2,893 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 1,294 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 2,577 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 3,175 1 1 315.0
2025 Q1 905 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 2,734 4 1 1463.1
2024 Q3 3,928 0 0 0.0
Show 67 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,249 3 2 1333.9
2024 Q1 1,523 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 2,386 5 2 2095.6
2023 Q3 3,507 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 3,483 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 4,352 5 3 1148.9
2022 Q4 2,865 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 3,821 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 3,497 1 0 286.0
2022 Q1 319 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 3,177 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 4,374 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 2,936 1 0 340.6
2021 Q1 1,523 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 2,409 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 3,799 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 2,379 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 208 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 1,316 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,187 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 2,082 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 654 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,588 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 2,286 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 2,424 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 1,390 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 2,125 1 0 470.6
2017 Q3 2,881 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 2,370 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 1,163 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,907 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 2,068 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 1,920 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 766 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 1,538 2 1 1300.4
2015 Q3 2,301 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 2,024 4 1 1976.3
2015 Q1 0 0 0
2014 Q4 1,695 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 2,336 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 2,167 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 288 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 1,508 8 1 5305.0
2013 Q3 1,626 30 14 18450.2
2013 Q2 1,468 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 180 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 1,683 1 0 594.2
2012 Q3 1,633 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 1,486 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 130 3 1 23076.9
2011 Q4 1,674 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,688 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 1,519 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 50 1 0 20000.0
2010 Q4 1,238 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,467 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 2,237 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 144 2 1 13888.9
2009 Q4 1,847 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 2,072 2 0 965.3
2009 Q2 2,397 1 0 417.2
2009 Q1 88 2 1 22727.3
2008 Q4 2,301 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,152 1 0 464.7
2007 Q3 0 0 0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 0 0 0

Fatalities at this mine

1 recorded
August 5, 2013 NY · Metal/Non-Metal prep plant foreman, supervisor, mill plant supervisor, kiln supervisor Fatality · MACHINERY
MJL Crushing LLC · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee was looking into Pegson stone hopper when the missing excavator tooth was ejected striking employee in the head.

Reportable incidents

1 on file (excluding fatalities above)

2009 · 1 incident

May 14, 2009 NY · Metal/Non-Metal belt foreman, maintenance foreman, maintenance supervisor POWERED HAULAGE
MJL Crushing LLC · Struck by flying object

A stone came off side of screener box a hit a counterweight which threw the stone or a piece which hit injury in the face. A deep cut to the upper nose resulted.