Mining Incidents

SUPERSTITION MOUNTN. GRANITE PIT: 59 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Paul C Helmick
Apache Junction, Maricopa County, AZ  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0202424

SUPERSTITION MOUNTN. GRANITE PIT has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2001
Latest incident
Mar 2001
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
59
citations
19
significant & substantial
$7,426
proposed penalties
$5,907
paid to date
80% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,519 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
20
inspections on record
252
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: 252 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

SUPERSTITION MOUNTN. GRANITE PIT has $7K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 6 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.
$7K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
59 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
Of $4K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2010-11-23.
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.
32.2%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
32.2%
reasonably likely or greater
72.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 1.7% low, 98.3% moderate, 0.0% 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.
4 citations taken to the federal commission · 7% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 100%
0%
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%
21%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$355 proposed, $280 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 2008-02-21.
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
WEST20000562M Settlement Manning 2001 $1K → $1K
WEST20000563M Withdrawal 2001 $816 → $0
WEST20010611M Settlement Manning 2002 $750 → $350
WEST 2004-209-M Dismissal Manning 2004 $274 → $214
WEST 2005-90M Settlement Lesnick 2005 $255 → $180
WEST 2008-457M Settlement Lesnick 2009 $100 → $100
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: 2006-02-22, 20 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
2
samples
2
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2006-02-22 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.6 1.45 0.41 Front-end Loader Operator
2006-02-22 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.17 1.3 0.13 Mechanic
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. National Granite 1988 to 1989
  2. Superstition Mountain Stone Inc 1989 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2011 2
2010 3
2009 3
2008 5
2007 4
2006 4
2005 4
2004 4
2003 5
2002 5
2001 5
2000 7
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

SUPERSTITION MOUNTN. GRANITE PIT sits in Maricopa County, Arizona, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Maricopa County, Arizona · Population 4,491,987
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$85,518
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
2011 Q1 926 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 1,000 1 1 1000.0
2010 Q3 1,000 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 1,520 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 1,472 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 1,000 2 0 2000.0
2009 Q3 1,480 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 2,040 0 0 0.0
Show 37 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2009 Q1 1,992 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,960 1 0 510.2
2008 Q3 1,994 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,992 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 2,032 1 0 492.1
2007 Q4 1,984 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 2,024 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 2,128 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 2,160 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 2,372 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 2,280 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 2,152 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 2,000 2 0 1000.0
2005 Q4 2,248 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 2,168 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 2,112 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 2,058 4 2 1943.6
2004 Q4 2,811 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 2,167 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 2,128 5 0 2349.6
2004 Q1 2,120 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 2,600 4 1 1538.5
2003 Q3 2,072 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 2,575 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 2,459 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 2,544 3 0 1179.2
2002 Q3 2,645 2 1 756.1
2002 Q2 2,666 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 2,675 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 2,011 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 2,733 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 6,868 3 0 436.8
2001 Q1 3,507 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 3,588 6 2 1672.2
2000 Q3 3,856 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 3,846 24 11 6240.2
2000 Q1 3,889 1 1 257.1
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2001 · 1 incident

March 27, 2001 AZ · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Superstition Mountain Stone Inc · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

A BARREL OF OIL 55 GAL. WAS ON BARREL RACK WI8TH DRAIN VALVE AT APPROX 45 DEGREE ANGLE. HE TRIED BY HIMSELF TO TURN DRAIN VALVE DOWN CAUSING A RUPTURE OF LEFT SIDE JUST ABOVE GROIN. DR. SENT H IM BACK TO WORK (NO HEAVY LIFTING) MAY HAVE PROBLEM LATER.