Mining Incidents

QHaul Gonzalez Quarry: 57 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

QHaul Inc · Surface
Controlled by Brad West
Gonzales,Tx, Gonzales County, TX  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 4104941

QHaul Gonzalez Quarry has $30K in proposed MSHA penalties and $238 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2014
Latest incident
Sep 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2012
57
citations
18
significant & substantial
$30,168
proposed penalties
$24,240
paid to date
80% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $5,928 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2012
17
inspections on record
210
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: 210 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2013-11-13.
On record since 2013.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

QHaul Gonzalez Quarry has $30K in proposed MSHA penalties and $238 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.
$30K
proposed penalties
$24K
current assessed
$24K
paid to date
$238
outstanding
53 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $24K in penalties contested before the Commission, $15K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-01-22.
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.
34.0%
significant & substantial
54.7%
high negligence or reckless
34.0%
reasonably likely or greater
32.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 45.3% moderate, 54.7% 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.
17 citations taken to the federal commission · 30% of citations on record
  • Settled 15 · 88%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 2 · 12%
62%
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 13 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
40%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$24K proposed, $15K 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 2016-04-12.
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 2014-173M Settlement Miller 2014 $18K → $12K
CENT 2016-0296 Settlement Lesnick 2016 $4K → $109
CENT 2014-174M Settlement Miller 2014 $2K → $2K
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: 2012-07-05, 14 years ago
3
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg3
Show the individual readings (3)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2012-07-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2012-07-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Cleanup Man
2012-07-05 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. Apache Aggregate Products LLC 2012 to 2014
  2. QHaul Inc 2014 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2017 0
2016 0
2015 4
2014 8
2013 8
2012 6
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

QHaul Gonzalez Quarry sits in Gonzales County, Texas, where the Census mining category is 5.3% 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.
Gonzales County, Texas · Population 19,764
5.3%
Mining share of county employment
$59,355
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
2017 Q2 0 0 0
2017 Q1 0 0 0
2016 Q3 0 0 0
2016 Q2 0 0 0
2016 Q1 0 13 0
2015 Q4 120 5 3 41666.7
2015 Q3 240 2 0 8333.3
2015 Q2 2,160 0 0 0.0
Show 10 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2015 Q1 4,104 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 5,040 10 2 1984.1
2014 Q3 5,670 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 3,201 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 3,899 18 10 4616.6
2013 Q3 6,041 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 6,041 4 2 662.1
2012 Q4 3,120 1 0 320.5
2012 Q3 3,120 2 0 641.0
2012 Q2 2,520 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2014 · 1 incident

September 29, 2014 TX · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
QHaul Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Employee was not wearing gloves. Employee received a small contusion to employee's left thumb. the employees thumb was caught between a small rock (approx.) 12 inches in diameter and the steel on crusher.