Mining Incidents

The Old Wasp Mine: 30 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

The Old Wasp Mine · Surface
Controlled by Clay Worst
Apache Junction, Pinal County, AZ  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 0203246

The Old Wasp Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at The Old Wasp Mine.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2009
30
citations
5
significant & substantial
$3,629
proposed penalties
$3,483
paid to date
96% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $146 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
27
inspections on record
181
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: 181 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

The Old Wasp Mine has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$3K
current assessed
$3K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
29 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $1K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-11-22.
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.
17.2%
significant & substantial
3.4%
high negligence or reckless
17.2%
reasonably likely or greater
62.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 3.4% low, 93.1% moderate, 3.4% 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.
9 citations taken to the federal commission · 30% of citations on record
  • Settled 9 · 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 3 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
12%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1K proposed, $1K 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 2009-12-14.
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 2010-391M Settlement Lesnick 2010 $1K → $1K
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: 2012-11-01, 13 years ago
1
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (1)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2012-11-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 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. The Old Wasp Mine 2009 to present
  2. Apache Mining Services LLC 2013 to 2016
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2022 0
2021 0
2020 1
2019 1
2018 1
2017 1
2016 1
2015 1
2014 1
2013 1
2012 1
2011 1
2010 1
2009 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

The Old Wasp Mine sits in Pinal County, Arizona, where the Census mining category is 0.8% 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.
Pinal County, Arizona · Population 449,219
0.8%
Mining share of county employment
$77,588
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
2022 Q2 0 0 0
2022 Q1 0 0 0
2021 Q4 0 1 1
2021 Q3 0 0 0
2021 Q1 0 1 0
2020 Q3 59 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 40 1 0 25000.0
2019 Q4 134 0 0 0.0
Show 39 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2019 Q3 52 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 13 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 96 1 0 10416.7
2018 Q3 74 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 144 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 176 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 185 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 433 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 280 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 120 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 148 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 148 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 120 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 180 8 0 44444.4
2015 Q2 120 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 120 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 240 1 0 4166.7
2014 Q2 480 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 480 3 1 6250.0
2013 Q3 480 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 460 2 0 4347.8
2013 Q1 440 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 460 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 520 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 445 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 600 2 0 3333.3
2011 Q4 620 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 570 1 0 1754.4
2011 Q2 520 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 562 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 541 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 540 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 529 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 581 9 3 15490.5
2009 Q3 628 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 0 0 0

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.