Mining Incidents

VARNEY BROS. SAND & GRAVEL, INC.: 39 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Linda L Varney
Bellingham, Norfolk County, MA  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 1900365

VARNEY BROS. SAND & GRAVEL, INC. has $9K 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
1
Years on record
1989
Latest incident
Apr 1989
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2001
39
citations
11
significant & substantial
$9,371
proposed penalties
$6,726
paid to date
72% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,645 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
19
inspections on record
250
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: 250 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2012-04-10.
On record since 2012.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

VARNEY BROS. SAND & GRAVEL, INC. has $9K 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.
$9K
proposed penalties
$7K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
37 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $4K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-04-10.
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.
29.7%
significant & substantial
2.7%
high negligence or reckless
29.7%
reasonably likely or greater
62.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 5.4% low, 91.9% moderate, 2.7% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 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 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
60%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$4K proposed, $2K 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 2012-07-02.
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
YORK 2012-234M Settlement Lesnick 2013 $4K → $2K
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: 2010-09-15, 15 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
9
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg8
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (9)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2010-09-15 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2010-09-15 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.13 0.59 0.22 Crusher Oper/Worker
2010-09-15 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2004-05-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2004-05-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
2004-05-12 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2001-11-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2001-11-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Truck Driver
2001-11-01 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Crusher Oper/Worker
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. Varney Bros. Sand & Gravel Inc 1950 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2015 1
2014 3
2013 3
2012 3
2011 4
2010 4
2009 1
2008 5
2007 5
2006 4
2005 4
2004 4
2003 10
2002 4
2001 5
2000 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

VARNEY BROS. SAND & GRAVEL, INC. sits in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Norfolk County, Massachusetts · Population 724,540
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$126,497
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
2015 Q4 3 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 4 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 4 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 3 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 10 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 61 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 4 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 2 0 0 0.0
Show 50 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2013 Q2 4 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 51 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 0 0 0
2012 Q2 547 4 1 7312.6
2012 Q1 320 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 761 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,092 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 927 11 4 11866.2
2011 Q1 74 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 640 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 1 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 109 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,047 1 1 955.1
2008 Q3 1,527 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,119 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 248 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 696 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 1,106 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 1,294 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 554 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 1,122 2 1 1782.5
2006 Q3 1,761 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 1,117 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 473 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 1,202 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 1,157 3 0 2592.9
2005 Q2 971 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 116 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 1,299 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 938 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 1,257 2 0 1591.1
2004 Q1 820 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 1,143 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 861 3 0 3484.3
2003 Q2 1,003 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 265 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 1,138 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 1,824 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 1,895 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 1,131 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 1,813 4 1 2206.3
2001 Q3 1,386 4 2 2886.0
2001 Q2 1,993 0 0 0.0
2001 Q1 1,234 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 849 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 1,279 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 887 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 747 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

1989 · 1 incident