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Mt.Top Quarry: 39 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Kelso, Cowlitz County, WA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4503757

Mt.Top Quarry has $90K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2018–2020
Latest incident
Aug 2020
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2017
39
citations
7
significant & substantial
$90,030
proposed penalties
$55,315
paid to date
61% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $34,715 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2017
16
inspections on record
284
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: 284 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Mt.Top Quarry has $90K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 4 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.
$90K
proposed penalties
$55K
current assessed
$55K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
38 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $81K in penalties contested before the Commission, $47K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-07-29.
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.
18.4%
significant & substantial
21.1%
high negligence or reckless
18.4%
reasonably likely or greater
60.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 13.2% low, 65.8% moderate, 21.1% 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.
5 citations taken to the federal commission · 13% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 80%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 20%
50%
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%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$81K proposed, $47K 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 2021-03-21.
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 2019-0049 Settlement Miller 2019 $71K → $45K
WEST 2020-0064 Settlement Miller 2020 $10K → $1K
WEST 2021-0154 Default 2021 $487 → $487
WEST 2018-0437 Settlement Feldman 2018 $236 → $236
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: 2019-07-25, 7 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
3
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (3)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2019-07-25 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.16 10 0.02 Front-end Loader Operator
2019-07-25 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2017-03-08 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.23 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. J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc. 2016 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2021 4
2020 4
2019 5
2018 6
2017 7
2016 4
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Mt.Top Quarry sits in Cowlitz County, Washington, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Cowlitz County, Washington · Population 111,539
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$72,932
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
2021 Q4 0 0 0
2021 Q3 2,906 6 0 2064.7
2021 Q2 2,100 1 0 476.2
2021 Q1 2,192 1 0 456.2
2020 Q4 1,709 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 2,357 1 1 424.3
2020 Q2 1,770 5 1 2824.9
2020 Q1 2,479 3 0 1210.2
Show 14 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2019 Q4 2,987 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,785 2 0 718.1
2019 Q2 3,504 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 2,966 2 0 674.3
2018 Q4 3,036 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 3,277 10 3 3051.6
2018 Q2 3,717 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 3,519 5 0 1420.9
2017 Q4 3,724 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 3,770 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 3,085 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 1,751 3 2 1713.3
2016 Q4 2,101 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 534 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2020 · 1 incident

August 18, 2020 WA · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc. · Fall from machine

The miner was exiting loader and slipped and fell to the ground, breaking right hip. Miner was taken by ambulance to the hospital and had surgery that night.

2018 · 1 incident

August 13, 2018 WA · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc. · Struck by falling object

While removing the bolts from the counterweight of a Hitachi ZX850H, the counterweight fell backwards onto employee's lower right leg, severing it above the ankle.