Mining Incidents

NORTH PIT: 26 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Boyer Sand & Rock Inc · Surface
Controlled by Bill Boyer
Howarden, Union County, SD  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 3901377

NORTH PIT has $5K 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
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
26
citations
6
significant & substantial
$4,992
proposed penalties
$4,730
paid to date
95% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $262 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
15
inspections on record
177
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: 177 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

NORTH PIT has $5K 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.
$5K
proposed penalties
$5K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
26 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $960 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-12-02.
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.
23.1%
significant & substantial
3.8%
high negligence or reckless
23.1%
reasonably likely or greater
23.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 15.4% low, 80.8% moderate, 3.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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
CENT20000005M Settlement Merlin 2001 $2K → $960
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Boyer Sand & Rock Inc 1990 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 1
2025 1
2024 1
2023 1
2022 1
2021 1
2020 1
2019 1
2018 1
2017 1
2016 1
2003 1
2002 1
2001 1
2000 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

NORTH PIT sits in Union County, South Dakota, 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.
Union County, South Dakota · Population 16,916
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$84,137
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 312 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 0 2 0
2025 Q3 220 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 400 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 160 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 140 10 3 71428.6
2024 Q2 120 0 0 0.0
Show 43 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1 0 0 0
2023 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 450 4 1 8888.9
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 84 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q3 110 1 0 9090.9
2021 Q2 360 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 200 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 180 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 0 0 0
2020 Q1 0 0 0
2019 Q4 500 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 480 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 456 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 0 0 0
2018 Q4 0 0 0
2018 Q3 549 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 187 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 0 0 0
2017 Q4 368 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 0 1 0
2017 Q2 270 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 0 0 0
2016 Q3 87 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 113 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 20 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 0 0 0
2003 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 25 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 25 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 20 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 10 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 30 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 20 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 20 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 20 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 40 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 100 4 2 40000.0
2000 Q2 40 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 50 0 0 0.0

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.