Mining Incidents

SPOKLIE'S: 34 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Spoklie'S South Valley Gravel · Surface
Controlled by Grant Spoklie
Whitefish, Flathead County, MT  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 2402186

SPOKLIE'S has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $525 outstanding across 2 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 2004
34
citations
12
significant & substantial
$6,266
proposed penalties
$5,090
paid to date
81% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,176 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2002
18
inspections on record
172
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: 172 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: 2017-08-30.
On record since 2017.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

SPOKLIE'S has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $525 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
$6K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$525
outstanding
33 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $3K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2017-08-30.
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.
36.4%
significant & substantial
9.1%
high negligence or reckless
36.4%
reasonably likely or greater
27.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 24.2% low, 66.7% moderate, 9.1% 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.
3 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Settled 3 · 100%
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 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
24%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$3K proposed, $2K 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 2011-08-09.
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 2009-1313M Settlement Lesnick 2010 $3K → $2K
WEST 2011-1344M Settlement Lesnick 2012 $100 → $100
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Spoklie'S South Valley Gravel 1999 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2015 1
2014 1
2013 2
2012 1
2011 3
2010 3
2009 2
2008 3
2007 3
2006 3
2005 2
2004 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

SPOKLIE'S sits in Flathead County, Montana, where the Census mining category is 0.7% 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.
Flathead County, Montana · Population 108,445
0.7%
Mining share of county employment
$71,327
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
2015 Q2 105 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 0 0 0
2014 Q4 112 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 182 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 8 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 0 0 0
2013 Q4 72 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 282 0 0 0.0
Show 36 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2013 Q2 5 1 0 200000.0
2013 Q1 4 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 52 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 15 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 272 2 1 7352.9
2012 Q1 0 0 0
2011 Q4 727 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 324 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 148 1 0 6756.8
2011 Q1 3 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 724 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 494 2 0 4048.6
2010 Q2 389 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 236 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 738 1 0 1355.0
2009 Q3 576 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 362 2 2 5524.9
2009 Q1 14 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 286 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 702 10 1 14245.0
2008 Q2 684 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 126 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 594 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 984 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 611 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 300 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 316 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 220 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 284 1 0 3521.1
2006 Q1 327 1 0 3058.1
2005 Q4 2 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 128 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 256 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 0 0 0
2004 Q4 0 0 0
2004 Q3 656 7 4 10670.7

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.