Mining Incidents

Valley Materials Inc: 206 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Valley Materials Inc · Surface
Riley, Harney County, OR  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 3503507

Valley Materials Inc has $48K in proposed MSHA penalties and $44K outstanding across 1 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 2000
206
citations
44
significant & substantial
$47,708
proposed penalties
$3,663
paid to date
8% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $44,045 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
62
inspections on record
964
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: 964 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 Materials Inc has $48K in proposed MSHA penalties and $44K 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.
$48K
proposed penalties
$48K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$44K
outstanding
192 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $55 in penalties contested before the Commission, $55 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-07-28.
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.
22.1%
significant & substantial
32.2%
high negligence or reckless
21.6%
reasonably likely or greater
46.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 7.0% low, 60.8% moderate, 32.2% 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 · 2% 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 4 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
99%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$3K proposed, $20 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 2005-08-31.
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 2003-416-M Default Lesnick 2004 $55 → $55
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: 2023-03-21, 3 years ago
6
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg6
Show the individual readings (6)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2023-03-21 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Utility Man
2017-03-10 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2007-08-09 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Cleanup Man
2007-08-09 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2003-09-04 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2003-09-04 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. Valley Rock & Supply 2000 to 2002
  2. Valley Materials Inc 2002 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 2
2025 1
2024 2
2023 2
2022 3
2021 3
2020 0
2019 2
2018 3
2017 2
2016 2
2014 3
2013 3
2011 3
2010 3
2009 3
2008 3
2007 3
2006 2
2005 3
2004 2
2003 2
2002 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Valley Materials Inc sits in Harney County, Oregon, 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.
Harney County, Oregon · Population 7,515
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$48,338
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 152 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 210 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 372 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 0 0 0
2025 Q1 0 2 0
2024 Q4 286 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 324 7 2 21604.9
2024 Q2 0 0 0
Show 70 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1 82 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 322 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 724 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 768 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 83 4 0 48192.8
2022 Q4 324 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 368 1 0 2717.4
2022 Q2 689 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 420 6 0 14285.7
2021 Q4 965 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 1,068 20 9 18726.6
2021 Q2 1,020 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 0 0 0
2019 Q4 1 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 117 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 112 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 97 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 92 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 127 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 88 7 0 79545.5
2018 Q1 73 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 56 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 162 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 32 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 58 5 0 86206.9
2016 Q4 50 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 55 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 49 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 35 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 125 1 0 8000.0
2014 Q1 450 12 5 26666.7
2013 Q4 721 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 981 4 0 4077.5
2013 Q2 1,082 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 735 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 815 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 639 1 0 1564.9
2010 Q4 1,075 0 0 0.0
2010 Q3 2,620 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 1,543 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 982 1 0 1018.3
2009 Q4 865 7 1 8092.5
2009 Q1 121 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 255 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 904 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 937 1 0 1067.2
2007 Q4 975 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 1,560 3 1 1923.1
2007 Q2 480 1 0 2083.3
2007 Q1 850 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 0 1 0
2006 Q3 1,276 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 1,057 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 1,352 1 0 739.6
2005 Q4 1,265 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,093 1 0 914.9
2005 Q2 1,173 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 1,450 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 960 12 4 12500.0
2004 Q3 800 6 3 7500.0
2004 Q2 400 4 0 10000.0
2004 Q1 45 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 180 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 240 6 0 25000.0
2003 Q2 810 1 0 1234.6
2003 Q1 538 4 1 7434.9
2002 Q4 327 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 408 34 8 83333.3
2002 Q2 201 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 240 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.