Mining Incidents

Tortuga Mesa Mine: 9 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

J & R Excavation & Concrete Specialty Inc · Surface
Controlled by Jason A Rael
El Prado, Taos County, NM  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 2902297

Tortuga Mesa Mine has $682 in proposed MSHA penalties and $682 outstanding across 0 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 2006
9
citations
3
significant & substantial
$682
proposed penalties
$0
paid to date
0% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $682 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
5
inspections on record
46
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: 46 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Tortuga Mesa Mine has $682 in proposed MSHA penalties and $682 outstanding across 0 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.
$682
proposed penalties
$682
current assessed
$0
paid to date
$682
outstanding
9 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2006-03-09.
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.
33.3%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
33.3%
reasonably likely or greater
88.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 100.0% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, 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: 2006-03-09, 20 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
2
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz1
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (2)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2006-03-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.24 1.04 0.23 Crusher Oper/Worker
2006-03-09 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. J & R Excavation & Concrete Specialty Inc 2005 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2007 0
2006 3
2005 4
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Tortuga Mesa Mine sits in Taos County, New Mexico, where the Census mining category is 0.6% 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.
Taos County, New Mexico · Population 34,516
0.6%
Mining share of county employment
$58,908
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
2007 Q1 0 0 0
2006 Q4 0 0 0
2006 Q3 0 0 0
2006 Q2 360 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 2,448 9 3 3676.5
2005 Q4 1,200 0 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.