Mining Incidents
Search Operators Mines Alerts Research Controllers Fatalgrams About
Countries
Peru Chile
English Español
← Back to search

Portable #4: 108 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Creston, Lincoln County, WA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4503772

Portable #4 has $118K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Portable #4.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2019
Latest incident
Apr 2019
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2018
108
citations
27
significant & substantial
$118,331
proposed penalties
$82,440
paid to date
70% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $35,891 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Copenhaver Construction, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2018
28
inspections on record
513
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: 513 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 #4 has $118K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 3 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.
$118K
proposed penalties
$82K
current assessed
$82K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
107 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $59K in penalties contested before the Commission, $19K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-08.
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.
25.0%
significant & substantial
11.1%
high negligence or reckless
25.0%
reasonably likely or greater
59.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.9% none, 6.5% low, 81.5% moderate, 11.1% 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.
20 citations taken to the federal commission · 19% of citations on record
  • Settled 17 · 85%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 3 · 15%
38%
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 8 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
69%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$59K proposed, $19K 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 2023-11-21.
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
WEST 2024-0060 Settlement Manning 2024 $47K → $15K
WEST 2024-0051 Settlement Manning 2024 $12K → $4K
WEST 2018-0501 Withdrawal Lesnick 2018 $128 → $0
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: 2024-10-29
50%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
14
samples
6
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz83 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg4
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (14)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2018-07-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.39 0.38 1.03 Cleanup Man
2018-07-11 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.72 0.38 1.89 Crusher Oper/Worker
2018-05-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.81 0.58 1.40 Truck Driver
2024-10-29 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.16 Truck Driver
2024-10-29 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.21 Supervisor, Co. Official
2024-10-29 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.33 Laborer, Bullgang
2024-10-29 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2023-05-31 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Laborer, Bullgang
2023-05-31 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Laborer, Bullgang
2023-05-31 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.2 Laborer, Bullgang
2018-09-19 Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.33 10 0.03 Crusher Oper/Worker
2018-07-11 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2018-05-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.33 0.69 0.48 Crusher Oper/Worker
2018-05-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.31 0.59 0.53 Crusher Oper/Worker
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 #4 recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.

Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ 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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Washington, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 2.92 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.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2023 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 8.03 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
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. Copenhaver Construction, Inc. 2017 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 9
2025 11
2024 12
2023 11
2022 10
2021 10
2020 11
2019 12
2018 12
2017 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Portable #4 sits in Lincoln County, Washington, 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.
Lincoln County, Washington · Population 11,271
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$71,227
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 6,388 1 0 156.5
2026 Q1 6,051 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 7,935 2 0 252.0
2025 Q3 8,718 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 8,564 3 0 350.3
2025 Q1 6,388 13 2 2035.1
2024 Q4 9,547 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 8,975 3 0 334.3
Show 27 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 8,297 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 8,523 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 9,975 1 0 100.3
2023 Q3 6,501 14 3 2153.5
2023 Q2 6,792 22 6 3239.1
2023 Q1 6,500 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 7,639 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 6,752 8 3 1184.8
2022 Q2 7,168 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 6,227 9 3 1445.3
2021 Q4 7,703 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 7,065 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 6,926 2 1 288.8
2021 Q1 8,560 8 2 934.6
2020 Q4 7,215 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 7,878 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 3,889 3 1 771.4
2020 Q1 8,222 3 1 364.9
2019 Q4 4,545 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 7,140 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 7,216 10 4 1385.8
2019 Q1 5,996 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 6,530 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 8,139 1 1 122.9
2018 Q2 5,314 4 0 752.7
2018 Q1 4,824 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 401 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2019 · 1 incident

April 9, 2019 WA · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Copenhaver Construction, Inc. · Struck by falling object

While trying to remove the bucket from the skid steer it dropped off the machine and injured the worker.