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LAUREL PIT: 118 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Michael Lee
Bellingham, Whatcom County, WA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4500723

LAUREL PIT has $56K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 5 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2004
Latest incident
Sep 2004
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
118
citations
32
significant & substantial
$56,033
proposed penalties
$30,625
paid to date
55% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $25,408 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Whatcom Builders Inc's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
35
inspections on record
584
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: 584 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

LAUREL PIT has $56K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 5 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.
$56K
proposed penalties
$31K
current assessed
$31K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
117 assessments are final orders; 5 contested dockets.
Of $38K in penalties contested before the Commission, $12K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2011-02-24.
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.
27.1%
significant & substantial
3.4%
high negligence or reckless
27.1%
reasonably likely or greater
65.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 11.0% low, 85.6% moderate, 3.4% 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.
24 citations taken to the federal commission · 20% of citations on record
  • Settled 23 · 96%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 4%
63%
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 16 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
68%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$38K proposed, $12K 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 2010-08-30.
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 2010-1742M Settlement Barbour 2012 $24K → $4K
WEST 2009-807M Settlement Gill 2011 $8K → $6K
WEST 2008-1008M Settlement Bulluck 2009 $3K → $1K
WEST 2010-23M Settlement Lesnick 2010 $2K → $540
WEST 2009-1165M Settlement Lesnick 2010 $687 → $343
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: 2009-08-11, 17 years ago
33%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
9
samples
6
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz62 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg3
Show the individual readings (9)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2009-06-24 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.55 0.35 1.57 Crusher Oper/Worker
2005-05-05 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.56 0.45 1.24 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-08-11 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-08-11 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-06-24 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Laborer, Bullgang
2005-09-08 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.17 0.67 0.25 Front-end Loader Operator
2005-09-08 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.13 0.48 0.27 Crusher Oper/Worker
2005-05-05 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.42 0.99 0.42 Front-end Loader Operator
2004-06-03 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.41 0.55 0.75 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. Whatcom Builders Inc 1950 to 1991
  2. Whatcom Builders Inc 1992 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2012 1
2011 3
2010 4
2009 4
2008 4
2007 4
2006 3
2005 4
2004 4
2003 3
2002 3
2001 3
2000 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

LAUREL PIT sits in Whatcom County, Washington, where the Census mining category is 0.4% 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.
Whatcom County, Washington · Population 228,432
0.4%
Mining share of county employment
$80,989
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
2012 Q2 40 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 40 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 40 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 919 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 779 2 0 2567.4
2010 Q4 949 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,074 1 0 931.1
Show 42 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2010 Q2 1,348 8 2 5934.7
2010 Q1 464 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 756 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1,138 1 1 878.7
2009 Q2 1,238 9 4 7269.8
2009 Q1 497 21 8 42253.5
2008 Q4 998 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,068 8 1 3868.5
2008 Q2 1,708 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 822 4 1 4866.2
2007 Q4 1,519 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 2,128 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 1,746 8 1 4581.9
2007 Q1 734 2 0 2724.8
2006 Q4 1,164 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 1,404 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 1,086 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 725 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 1,101 4 0 3633.1
2005 Q3 1,236 1 1 809.1
2005 Q2 942 12 4 12738.9
2005 Q1 687 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 1,001 1 0 999.0
2004 Q3 1,404 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 1,636 3 1 1833.7
2004 Q1 712 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 854 3 0 3512.9
2003 Q3 1,171 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 1,261 3 1 2379.1
2003 Q1 555 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 1,028 2 2 1945.5
2002 Q3 1,248 3 0 2403.8
2002 Q2 1,237 6 2 4850.4
2002 Q1 619 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 606 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 1,153 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 1,070 1 1 934.6
2001 Q1 653 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 862 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 1,127 15 2 13309.7
2000 Q2 1,041 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 681 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2004 · 1 incident

September 21, 2004 WA · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Whatcom Builders Inc · Fall to the walkway or working surface

EE'S WERE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENT TO THE CONE. INJURED EE WAS NOT FOLLOWING ESTABLISHED RULES NOR USING COMPANY SUPPLIED SAFETY EQUIPMENT. DURING WORK EMPLOYEE SLIPPED ON DAMP STEEL & FELL LANDING ON BACK & HIP. THOUGHT HE HAD KNOCKED THE WIND OUT OF HIMSELF. DIDN'T REPORT ACCIDENT UNTIL DAYS LATER. DIAGNOSED WITH CONTUSIONS TO BACK, HIP, RIGHT SHOULDER.