Mining Incidents

PIONEER CRUSHER #1: 19 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Houlton, Aroostook County, ME  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 1700826

PIONEER CRUSHER #1 has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at PIONEER CRUSHER #1.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2011
Latest incident
Oct 2011
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
19
citations
2
significant & substantial
$2,135
proposed penalties
$2,135
paid to date
100% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $0 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
15
inspections on record
200
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: 200 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

PIONEER CRUSHER #1 has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 0 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.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
19 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-07-18.
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.
10.5%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
10.5%
reasonably likely or greater
36.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 21.1% low, 78.9% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, 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: 2018-10-10, 7 years ago
100%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
5
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz11 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg3
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (5)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2009-10-08 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.15 0.59 1.95 Crusher Oper/Worker
2018-10-10 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2018-10-10 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.17 Backhoe Operator
2010-07-13 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2009-10-08 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader 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. Steelstone Industries Inc. 2007 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 0
2025 3
2024 3
2023 3
2022 3
2021 4
2020 5
2019 4
2018 5
2012 3
2011 3
2010 2
2009 2
2008 5
2007 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

PIONEER CRUSHER #1 sits in Aroostook County, Maine, where the Census mining category is 0.0% 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.
Aroostook County, Maine · Population 67,227
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$54,254
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 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 1,164 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 1,282 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 641 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 12 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 1,319 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 1,755 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 1,155 0 0 0.0
Show 43 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 839 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 1,358 4 1 2945.5
2023 Q2 794 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 827 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 837 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 746 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 199 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 1,639 1 0 610.1
2021 Q3 1,333 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 841 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 371 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 3,053 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 2,995 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 1,942 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 1,794 1 0 557.4
2019 Q3 4,010 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 2,101 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 10 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,551 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 1,795 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 1,322 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 441 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 42 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 637 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,335 7 0 5243.4
2011 Q2 414 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 202 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,068 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 422 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 658 2 1 3039.5
2009 Q3 1,395 2 0 1433.7
2009 Q2 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 2,740 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 4,162 2 0 480.5
2008 Q2 968 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 470 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2011 · 1 incident

October 24, 2011 ME · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator MACHINERY
Steelstone Industries Inc. · Struck by flying object

Employee was using an air gun to loosen bolts on the crushing plant and the air gun blew dirt into his right eye.