Mining Incidents

Portable 1: 49 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Lon A Thomas
Oakley, Cassia County, ID  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 1001960

Portable 1 has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
6
Years on record
1999–2020
Latest incident
Sep 2020
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
49
citations
14
significant & substantial
$5,554
proposed penalties
$5,380
paid to date
97% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $174 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
41
inspections on record
429
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: 429 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 $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$6K
proposed penalties
$5K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
49 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $494 in penalties contested before the Commission, $320 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-05-29.
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.
28.6%
significant & substantial
2.0%
high negligence or reckless
28.6%
reasonably likely or greater
42.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 14.3% low, 83.7% moderate, 2.0% 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 · 4% 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%
35%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$494 proposed, $320 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 2023-09-20.
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 2021-0084 Settlement Manning 2021 $351 → $177
WEST 2023-0419 Dismissal Simonton 2024 $143 → $143
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: 2019-06-25, 7 years ago
30%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
14
samples
10
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz103 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg4
Show the individual readings (14)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2003-06-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.43 0.3 1.43 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2003-06-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.57 0.33 1.73 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2003-06-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.48 0.31 1.55 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2019-06-25 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.21 0.28 0.75 Utility Man
2019-06-25 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.6 0.63 0.95 Front-end Loader Operator
2014-06-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2014-06-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2014-06-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2003-08-06 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.27 0.31 0.87 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2003-06-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.39 0.58 0.67 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2002-05-15 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.19 0.74 0.26 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2002-05-15 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.15 0.24 0.63 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2002-05-15 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Stone Polisher/Cutter
2002-05-15 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.34 0.72 0.47 Stone Polisher/Cutter
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.

Portable 1 recorded 18.56 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2005.

Injury rate, 2005
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
18.56
total case rate
9.28
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 3.76 and the all-US-mining average was 4.21 cases per 100 workers.
In Idaho, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 7.12 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Ownership history
  1. Star Stone Quarries Inc 1999 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 6
2025 6
2024 8
2023 8
2022 4
2021 9
2020 8
2019 5
2018 7
2017 12
2016 11
2015 5
2014 7
2013 5
2012 4
2011 3
2010 2
2009 2
2008 4
2007 5
2006 8
2005 15
2004 10
2003 10
2002 6
2001 7
2000 7
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Portable 1 sits in Cassia County, Idaho, where the Census mining category is 0.5% 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.
Cassia County, Idaho · Population 25,165
0.5%
Mining share of county employment
$67,042
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 3,862 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 12 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 156 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 5,110 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 4,112 1 0 243.2
2025 Q1 0 0 0
2024 Q4 2,399 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 7,190 0 0 0.0
Show 88 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 2,459 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 0 0 0
2023 Q4 1,203 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 6,815 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,415 1 0 706.7
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 1,751 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 6,725 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 0 0 0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 2,281 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 7,578 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 3,280 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 1,374 1 1 727.8
2020 Q3 5,535 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 2,120 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 2,630 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 844 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 0 0 0
2018 Q4 1,031 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 3,559 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 850 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 723 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 3,373 3 0 889.4
2017 Q2 3,051 2 1 655.5
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q4 511 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 7,063 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 5,603 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 0 0 0
2015 Q3 3,686 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 3,654 1 1 273.7
2014 Q4 796 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 1,056 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 11,546 1 0 86.6
2013 Q4 815 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 571 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 2,277 3 0 1317.5
2012 Q3 646 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 1,976 2 1 1012.1
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 221 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,487 1 0 672.5
2011 Q2 702 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 0 0 0
2010 Q4 606 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 1,291 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 0 0 0
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 548 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 159 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 0 0 0
2008 Q4 0 0 0
2008 Q3 2,234 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,391 1 1 718.9
2008 Q1 0 0 0
2007 Q4 792 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 3,541 4 1 1129.6
2007 Q2 0 0 0
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 2,639 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 2,566 6 2 2338.3
2006 Q2 2,270 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 40 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 4,663 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 10,955 7 2 639.0
2005 Q2 5,857 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 80 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 5,795 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 8,646 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 3,868 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 45 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 1,365 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 3,698 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 3,736 6 3 1606.0
2003 Q1 0 0 0
2002 Q4 0 0 0
2002 Q3 4,764 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 5,688 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 0 0 0
2001 Q4 0 0 0
2001 Q3 13,223 3 0 226.9
2001 Q2 2,662 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 0 0 0
2000 Q4 3,015 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 3,550 4 0 1126.8
2000 Q2 0 0 0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

6 on file

2020 · 2 incidents

September 9, 2020 ID · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Struck by falling object

Miner lost grip on a piece of flagstone while stacking it on a pallet causing the piece to fall and hit their leg.

August 17, 2020 ID · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

While stacking flagstone on a pallet miner smashed finger.

2005 · 2 incidents

September 30, 2005 ID · Metal/Non-Metal stone finishing and sizing personnel, stone/rock cut/polish/saw operator, splitter, cutter, trimmer HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Struck by falling object

WHILE NAILING BOARD TO FINISH PALLETIZING ROCK, ROCK SHIFTED AND FELL ON EMPLOYEE KNOCKING HIM OVER AND ROCK FELL ON HIS FOOT, CRUSHING HIS SECOND TOE ON HIS LEFT FOOT.

May 25, 2005 ID · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Struck by falling object

WHEN PALLETIZING ROCK, THE ROCK SLIPPED & STRUCK HIS FOREARM WITH THE EDGE OF THE ROCK, RESULTING IN A CUT ON HIS FOREARM REQUIRING 5 STITCHES.

1999 · 2 incidents

October 28, 1999 ID · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS (TOXIC AGENTS)
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Inhalation of radiations, caustics, toxic and noxious substances

A CAN OF STARTING FLUID GOT UNDER THE DRIVERS SEAT AND WAS APPARENTLY PUNCTURED WHEN THE SEAT CAME DOWN.

July 26, 1999 ID · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Star Stone Quarries Inc · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)

SMASH FINGER NEED COUPLE STITCHES.