Mining Incidents

Oatman Pit: 60 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Lundell Const Co Inc · Surface
Controlled by Mark A Lundell
Storm Lake, Buena Vista County, IA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1301118

Oatman Pit has $11K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
1999
Latest incident
May 1999
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
60
citations
16
significant & substantial
$11,370
proposed penalties
$8,934
paid to date
79% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,436 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
33
inspections on record
268
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: 268 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Oatman Pit has $11K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 2 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.
$11K
proposed penalties
$11K
current assessed
$9K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
58 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $660 in penalties contested before the Commission, $660 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-09-09.
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.
27.6%
significant & substantial
8.6%
high negligence or reckless
27.6%
reasonably likely or greater
65.5%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.6% low, 82.8% moderate, 8.6% 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.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 50%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 50%
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 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$660 proposed, $660 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 2011-03-01.
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
CENT 2011-501M Settlement Barbour 2011 $600 → $600
CENT 2006-163M Default Lesnick 2006 $60 → $60
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: 2012-12-04, 13 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
2
samples
2
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2012-12-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.16 1.04 0.15 Front-end Loader Operator
2005-06-01 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.41 2.46 0.17 Dry Screen Plant Operator
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. Wetherell Excavating & Trucking Inc 1950 to 2003
  2. Lundell Const Co Inc 2003 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2015 2
2014 2
2013 2
2012 2
2011 2
2010 2
2009 2
2008 2
2007 2
2006 1
2005 1
2004 1
2003 1
2002 2
2001 5
2000 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Oatman Pit sits in Buena Vista County, Iowa, 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.
Buena Vista County, Iowa · Population 20,684
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$66,564
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
2015 Q4 38 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 70 4 1 57142.9
2015 Q2 1 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 42 1 0 23809.5
2014 Q2 28 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
Show 51 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2013 Q4 9 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 66 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 1 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 178 3 0 16853.9
2012 Q3 362 2 1 5524.9
2012 Q2 140 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 4 1 0 250000.0
2011 Q4 66 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 250 5 2 20000.0
2011 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 271 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 112 13 6 116071.4
2010 Q2 61 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 18 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 200 3 2 15000.0
2009 Q2 72 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 7 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 105 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 433 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 195 1 0 5128.2
2008 Q1 26 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 82 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 139 1 0 7194.2
2007 Q2 312 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 233 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 225 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 208 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 85 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 157 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 360 5 1 13888.9
2005 Q1 24 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 35 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 78 5 0 64102.6
2004 Q2 54 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 0 0 0
2003 Q4 260 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 259 2 1 7722.0
2003 Q2 0 0 0
2002 Q1 9 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 319 11 2 34482.8
2001 Q3 275 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 29 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 8 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 65 3 0 46153.8
2000 Q3 137 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 889 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

1999 · 1 incident

May 14, 1999 IA · Metal/Non-Metal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator POWERED HAULAGE
Wetherell Excavating & Trucking Inc · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

END GATE FAILED TO LOCK & WHEN OPENED CAUGHT FINGER IN IT