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TO Mine Plant: 136 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Conner Bjustrom
Des Moines, Union County, NM  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 2902359

TO Mine Plant has $59K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
2
Years on record
2008–2024
Latest incident
Apr 2024
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
136
citations
32
significant & substantial
$58,671
proposed penalties
$44,465
paid to date
76% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $14,206 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Red Hill Lava Products, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2008
60
inspections on record
822
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: 822 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

TO Mine Plant has $59K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K 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.
$59K
proposed penalties
$56K
current assessed
$44K
paid to date
$11K
outstanding
129 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $7K in penalties contested before the Commission, $4K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-05-05.
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.
23.5%
significant & substantial
18.4%
high negligence or reckless
23.5%
reasonably likely or greater
46.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 5.1% low, 76.5% moderate, 18.4% 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.
14 citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
  • Settled 6 · 43%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 7%
  • Still open 7 · 50%
80%
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 5 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
43%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$7K proposed, $4K 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 2026-06-01.
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 2021-0073 Settlement Miller 2021 $5K → $2K
CENT 2016-0381 Default Lesnick 2016 $2K → $2K
CENT 2026-0203 Decision pending
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: 2024-09-24
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
9
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg7
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz1
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (9)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2024-09-24 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2024-09-24 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Laborer, Bullgang
2018-02-07 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2018-02-07 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.77 Forklift Operator
2016-09-28 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Forklift Operator
2016-09-28 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2010-03-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Bagging Operator
2010-03-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2010-03-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.14 1.59 0.09 Forklift 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. Colorado Lava Inc 2008 to 2017
  2. Red Hill Lava Products, Inc. 2017 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 10
2025 10
2024 9
2023 9
2022 0
2021 2
2020 8
2019 6
2018 5
2017 5
2016 5
2015 5
2014 4
2013 4
2012 5
2011 4
2010 4
2009 3
2008 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

TO Mine Plant sits in Union County, New Mexico, 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.
Union County, New Mexico · Population 4,039
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$45,319
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 4,409 3 0 680.4
2026 Q1 4,356 7 2 1607.0
2025 Q4 4,504 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 4,867 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 4,830 9 3 1863.4
2025 Q1 4,204 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 4,136 4 1 967.1
2024 Q3 3,105 0 0 0.0
Show 66 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 4,063 5 4 1230.6
2024 Q1 4,863 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 3,082 6 2 1946.8
2023 Q3 3,081 6 1 1947.4
2023 Q2 4,386 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 3,651 6 0 1643.4
2022 Q4 0 0 0
2022 Q3 0 1 0
2022 Q2 0 0 0
2022 Q1 0 4 3
2021 Q4 206 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 546 3 0 5494.5
2021 Q2 1,584 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 2,065 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 4,439 10 4 2252.8
2020 Q3 2,795 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 3,788 5 0 1320.0
2020 Q1 3,572 3 2 839.9
2019 Q4 3,508 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 3,596 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 2,139 2 1 935.0
2019 Q1 2,116 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,971 2 0 1014.7
2018 Q3 2,744 6 1 2186.6
2018 Q2 2,419 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 2,299 5 1 2174.9
2017 Q4 1,804 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 1,778 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 2,156 1 0 463.8
2017 Q1 1,819 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,899 2 0 1053.2
2016 Q3 2,028 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 2,034 5 0 2458.2
2016 Q1 2,336 5 1 2140.4
2015 Q4 2,216 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 2,358 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 2,648 5 1 1888.2
2015 Q1 2,463 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 2,698 6 2 2223.9
2014 Q3 2,126 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 2,422 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 1,959 2 0 1020.9
2013 Q4 2,209 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 2,288 1 0 437.1
2013 Q2 2,735 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 2,153 1 0 464.5
2012 Q4 2,162 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 1,961 3 0 1529.8
2012 Q2 2,079 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 2,488 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 1,566 1 0 638.6
2011 Q3 2,174 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 2,553 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 2,322 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 1,652 2 0 1210.7
2010 Q3 1,998 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 1,831 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 2,400 5 2 2083.3
2009 Q4 2,132 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1,729 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 0 0 0
2009 Q1 2,120 6 1 2830.2
2008 Q4 1,314 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,420 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 3,392 4 0 1179.2
2008 Q1 2,116 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

2 on file

2024 · 1 incident

April 12, 2024 NM · Metal/Non-Metal clerk, timekeeper, office worker, director of sales OTHER
Red Hill Lava Products, Inc. · Fall to the walkway or working surface

Employee was opening the door of office trailer and started stepping down to the landing, when a strong gust of wind slammed up against the door while they held the door knob. They were caught by the wind and thrust out of the door and fell to the landing/ground.

2008 · 1 incident

March 20, 2008 NM · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator MACHINERY
Colorado Lava Inc · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Employee reached in to clear some bags that were stuck in the machine. The machine had been stopping and starting, and while it was stopped for a noticeable period of time, EE thought is would be safe to retrieve the bags. Instead of shutting the machine off first, he reached in. The machine started again and the employee's hand was caught between the belt and the rollers.