Mining Incidents

Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co.: 53 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co. · Surface
Controlled by Wayne Donald Holbert
Lackawaxin, Pike County, PA  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 3609596

Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co. has $8K in proposed MSHA penalties and $151 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co..

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
53
citations
12
significant & substantial
$8,480
proposed penalties
$7,617
paid to date
90% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $863 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
24
inspections on record
368
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: 368 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co. has $8K 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.
$8K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$151
outstanding
53 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $3K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-18.
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.
22.6%
significant & substantial
18.9%
high negligence or reckless
22.6%
reasonably likely or greater
45.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 15.1% low, 66.0% moderate, 18.9% 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.
16 citations taken to the federal commission · 30% of citations on record
  • Settled 15 · 94%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 6%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
31%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$3K proposed, $2K 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 2012-08-07.
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 2010-165M Settlement Harner 2011 $2K → $1K
PENN 2012-389M Settlement Simonton 2013 $524 → $325
PENN 2010-717M Settlement Harner 2011 $412 → $312
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: 2020-03-12, 6 years ago
40%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
6
samples
5
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz42 over
  • Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz1
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (6)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2017-07-26 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 4.21 0.64 6.58 Drill Operator, Rotary Air
2017-07-26 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.71 0.29 2.45 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2020-03-12 Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz 0.54 10 0.05 Cutting Mach Operator
2017-08-10 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.13 0.47 0.28 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2017-08-10 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.17 0.27 0.63 Drill Operator, Rotary Air
2010-06-14 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.
Ownership history
  1. Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co. 2008 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2025 3
2024 3
2023 3
2022 2
2021 3
2020 2
2019 2
2018 2
2017 3
2016 3
2015 2
2014 2
2013 3
2012 2
2011 2
2010 3
2009 2
2008 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Holbert Bros. Bluestone Co. sits in Pike County, Pennsylvania, where the Census mining category is 0.3% 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.
Pike County, Pennsylvania · Population 59,691
0.3%
Mining share of county employment
$79,318
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 1,192 2 0 1677.9
2025 Q2 1,192 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 1,182 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 1,245 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 948 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 1,280 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,312 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 209 0 0 0.0
Show 60 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2022 Q4 1,138 4 0 3514.9
2022 Q3 1,249 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 610 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 30 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 423 2 0 4728.1
2021 Q3 560 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 252 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 97 1 0 10309.3
2020 Q4 60 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 251 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 791 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 233 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 466 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 897 1 1 1114.8
2019 Q2 671 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 251 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 605 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 744 3 0 4032.3
2018 Q2 624 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 144 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 678 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 1,497 6 3 4008.0
2017 Q2 469 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 160 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,592 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 1,226 2 0 1631.3
2016 Q2 796 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 295 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 739 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 958 1 1 1043.8
2015 Q2 712 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 537 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 675 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 327 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 82 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 996 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 1,290 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 1,173 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 597 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 914 1 0 1094.1
2012 Q3 1,236 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 483 2 0 4140.8
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 397 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,481 4 0 2700.9
2011 Q2 75 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 907 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,647 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 454 3 0 6607.9
2010 Q1 150 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 872 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 992 10 2 10080.6
2009 Q2 61 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 0 0 0
2008 Q4 930 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,414 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 2,045 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 236 3 0 12711.9

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.