Mining Incidents

Valley Clay Mining Co.: 141 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Scott M Zemba
Roseville, Muskingum County, OH  ·  Temporarily Idled
MSHA Mine ID: 3304343

Valley Clay Mining Co. has $38K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
6
Years on record
2002–2014
Latest incident
May 2014
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
141
citations
41
significant & substantial
$37,907
proposed penalties
$37,339
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $568 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
63
inspections on record
809
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: 809 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Valley Clay Mining Co. has $38K 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.
$38K
proposed penalties
$37K
current assessed
$37K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
140 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2022-03-15.
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.
29.3%
significant & substantial
10.0%
high negligence or reckless
29.3%
reasonably likely or greater
31.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 17.9% low, 72.1% moderate, 10.0% 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 · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 4 · 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%
30%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K 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 2016-11-16.
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
LAKE 2017-0058 Settlement Andrews 2017 $2K → $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: 2021-05-24, 5 years ago
50%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
16
samples
8
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz114 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg4
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (16)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2016-11-22 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.83 0.75 1.11 Hammer Mill Operator
2016-09-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 2.17 0.78 2.78 Hammer Mill Operator
2016-09-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.07 1.02 1.05 Mechanic
2009-03-04 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.08 0.72 1.50 Hammer Mill Operator
2021-05-24 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.27 Truck Driver
2021-05-24 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.16 Truck Driver
2021-05-24 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 0.13 Backhoe Operator
2019-10-09 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2019-10-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.25 Truck Driver
2019-10-09 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2019-10-09 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Bulldozer Operator
2017-12-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Supervisor, Co. Official
2017-12-05 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.5 0.65 0.77 Dry Screen Plant Operator
2016-09-20 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.18 1.06 0.17 Utility Man
2009-08-12 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.31 0.63 0.49 Hammer Mill Operator
2009-03-26 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.27 0.64 0.42 Bagging 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. Valley Clay Mining Co. 1994 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2024 2
2023 3
2022 3
2021 4
2020 3
2019 5
2018 4
2017 4
2016 4
2015 5
2014 4
2013 4
2012 5
2011 4
2010 5
2009 5
2008 4
2007 4
2006 4
2005 4
2004 3
2003 4
2002 4
2001 3
2000 3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Valley Clay Mining Co. sits in Muskingum County, Ohio, where the Census mining category is 1.0% 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.
Muskingum County, Ohio · Population 86,382
1.0%
Mining share of county employment
$59,203
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
2024 Q4 0 0 0
2024 Q3 185 0 0 0.0
2024 Q2 24 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 29 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 237 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 644 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 232 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 44 0 0 0.0
Show 92 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2022 Q4 121 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 62 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 45 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 100 1 0 10000.0
2021 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 447 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 421 1 0 2375.3
2021 Q1 191 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 0 0 0
2020 Q3 233 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 1,859 1 0 537.9
2020 Q1 2,232 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 2,239 1 0 446.6
2019 Q3 2,965 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 2,005 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 2,072 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 2,566 1 0 389.7
2018 Q3 2,525 5 2 1980.2
2018 Q2 1,761 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 1,564 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 5,200 3 0 576.9
2017 Q3 2,249 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 1,789 6 2 3353.8
2017 Q1 1,517 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 2,161 1 1 462.7
2016 Q3 1,694 4 2 2361.3
2016 Q2 2,201 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 2,014 4 1 1986.1
2015 Q4 2,516 1 0 397.5
2015 Q3 2,148 9 4 4189.9
2015 Q2 2,010 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1,745 23 8 13180.5
2014 Q4 1,490 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 1,260 1 0 793.7
2014 Q2 1,904 5 0 2626.1
2014 Q1 2,061 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 1,767 5 2 2829.7
2013 Q3 1,831 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 1,918 10 1 5213.8
2013 Q1 1,806 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 2,213 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 2,232 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 2,836 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 3,236 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 2,011 1 0 497.3
2011 Q3 2,165 9 4 4157.0
2011 Q2 1,993 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 3,038 3 1 987.5
2010 Q4 2,827 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 2,812 3 1 1066.9
2010 Q2 2,795 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 2,711 9 4 3319.8
2009 Q4 2,648 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 2,666 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 2,771 5 1 1804.4
2009 Q1 2,653 5 1 1884.7
2008 Q4 2,977 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 1,996 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 2,043 1 0 489.5
2008 Q1 1,867 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 1,942 1 0 514.9
2007 Q3 2,103 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 2,056 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 2,117 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 2,193 1 0 456.0
2006 Q3 1,952 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 2,017 1 1 495.8
2006 Q1 2,255 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 2,179 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 2,220 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 2,067 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 1,298 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 1,166 2 0 1715.3
2004 Q3 1,578 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 1,530 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 1,514 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 1,290 3 0 2325.6
2003 Q3 1,733 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 2,053 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 2,094 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 2,569 1 0 389.3
2002 Q3 2,261 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 2,223 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 2,274 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 1,713 3 0 1751.3
2001 Q3 1,649 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 1,788 7 4 3915.0
2001 Q1 2,057 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 1,988 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 1,372 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 1,305 3 1 2298.9
2000 Q1 1,074 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

6 on file

2014 · 1 incident

May 8, 2014 OH · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Valley Clay Mining Co. · Contact with hot objects or substances

The miner was shutting down a 2" water pump. When he removed the discharge hose, the water inside the pump somehow became heated & the water burned his left arm. He was taken to the E.R. his arm has 1st & 2nd degree burn from the water.

2011 · 2 incidents

November 9, 2011 OH · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Valley Clay Mining Co. · Struck by flying object

The miner was hammering pins into the tracks of an excavator with a sledge hammer. A piece of metal hit him on the left side of his face. He received a small cut on his ear lobe and a small cut less than 1 inch in front and behind the ear lobe the cut was closed by the ER Dr. with medical glue.

2009 · 1 incident

August 24, 2009 OH · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman OTHER
Valley Clay Mining Co. · Unclassified, insufficient data

I do not know the date of the injury. EE complained of back pain n 8/24/09, went to the doctor, they said he had kidney stones according to EE. I have not seen any medical information. The 9/15/09 date was when I was told he was filing a workers comp claim.

2004 · 1 incident

March 30, 2004 OH · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Valley Clay Mining Co. · Fall onto or against objects

Truck driver climbing into bed of dump truck to check condition of truck bed, slipped and fell into the inside of truck bed. Driver complained of bad shoulder pain, a medical squad was called to take him to the hospital. He was treated and released.

2002 · 1 incident