Mining Incidents

Portable #1: 27 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Jerry T Kern
Arvin, Kern County, CA  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 0405604

Portable #1 has $10K in proposed MSHA penalties and $302 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 2005
27
citations
7
significant & substantial
$9,550
proposed penalties
$8,174
paid to date
86% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,376 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2004
15
inspections on record
189
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: 189 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Portable #1 has $10K in proposed MSHA penalties and $302 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.
$10K
proposed penalties
$8K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$302
outstanding
25 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $4K in penalties contested before the Commission, $3K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-30.
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.
25.9%
significant & substantial
74.1%
high negligence or reckless
25.9%
reasonably likely or greater
55.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 3.7% low, 22.2% moderate, 74.1% 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.
11 citations taken to the federal commission · 41% of citations on record
  • Settled 2 · 18%
  • Stood as issued 9 · 82%
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 4 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
30%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$4K proposed, $3K 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 2010-07-28.
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 2010-1608M Dismissal Manning 2011 $4K → $3K
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: 2025-11-20
2
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2025-11-20 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2021-11-02 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. Kern Brothers Trucking Inc 2004 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
2011 1
2010 1
2005 1
2004 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Portable #1 sits in Kern County, California, where the Census mining category is 2.3% 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.
Kern County, California · Population 910,433
2.3%
Mining share of county employment
$67,660
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 36 2 0 55555.6
2026 Q1 42 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 49 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 67 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 56 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 84 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 46 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 31 2 0 64516.1
Show 26 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 45 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 47 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 33 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 37 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 63 1 0 15873.0
2021 Q3 53 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 111 1 0 9009.0
2020 Q4 71 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 87 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 56 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 64 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 93 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 212 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 267 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 192 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 60 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 56 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 34 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 131 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 378 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 402 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 247 13 6 52631.6
2005 Q2 16 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 0 1 0
2004 Q4 0 0 0
2004 Q3 146 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.