Mining Incidents

ORTEGA'S GRAVEL PIT: 11 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Ortega's Gravel Pit · Surface
Controlled by Robert R Ortega
Questa, Taos County, NM  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 2902221

ORTEGA'S GRAVEL PIT has $1K 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 2012
11
citations
2
significant & substantial
$1,264
proposed penalties
$1,264
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
28
inspections on record
225
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: 225 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

ORTEGA'S GRAVEL PIT has $1K 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.
$1K
proposed penalties
$1K
current assessed
$1K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
11 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $100 in penalties contested before the Commission, $100 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-06-26.
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.
18.2%
significant & substantial
9.1%
high negligence or reckless
18.2%
reasonably likely or greater
9.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.1% low, 81.8% moderate, 9.1% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 100%
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
$100 proposed, $100 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 2012-08-21.
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
CENT 2012-831M Settlement Lesnick 2013 $100 → $100
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: 2001-07-17, 25 years ago
1
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2001-07-17 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Screen/Scalper 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. Ortega's Gravel Pit 2001 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 3
2025 2
2024 2
2023 2
2022 2
2021 2
2020 2
2019 2
2018 2
2017 2
2016 2
2015 2
2014 2
2013 2
2012 2
2011 2
2010 1
2009 1
2008 1
2007 2
2006 2
2004 0
2003 0
2002 0
2001 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

ORTEGA'S GRAVEL PIT sits in Taos County, New Mexico, where the Census mining category is 0.6% 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.
Taos County, New Mexico · Population 34,516
0.6%
Mining share of county employment
$58,908
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 81 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 61 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 61 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 81 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 81 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 57 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 59 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 81 0 0 0.0
Show 85 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 61 1 0 16393.4
2024 Q1 65 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 81 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 121 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 91 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 113 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 49 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 81 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 57 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 65 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 91 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 114 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 41 2 0 48780.5
2021 Q1 41 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 81 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 49 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 21 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 66 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 25 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 86 1 0 11627.9
2019 Q2 81 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 51 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 41 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 46 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 82 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 41 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 44 2 0 45454.5
2017 Q3 46 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 64 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 33 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 48 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 84 1 0 11904.8
2016 Q2 69 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 1 1 0 1000000.0
2015 Q4 26 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 66 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 84 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 25 1 1 40000.0
2014 Q3 40 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 68 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 8 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 71 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 96 1 0 10416.7
2013 Q2 92 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 8 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 26 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 46 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 19 1 1 52631.6
2012 Q1 44 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 32 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 15 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 90 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 69 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 46 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 26 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 59 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 25 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 50 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 44 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 28 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 16 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 36 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 34 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 0 0 0
2007 Q4 42 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 35 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 68 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 10 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 20 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 0 0 0
2004 Q2 0 0 0
2004 Q1 0 0 0
2003 Q4 0 0 0
2003 Q3 0 0 0
2003 Q2 0 0 0
2003 Q1 0 0 0
2002 Q4 0 0 0
2002 Q3 40 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 0 0 0
2002 Q1 0 0 0
2001 Q4 45 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 80 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.