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Wash Plant 1: 88 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Croell, Inc. · Surface
Controlled by Kurt Croell
Hot Springs, Fall River County, SD  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 3901494

Wash Plant 1 has $36K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 9 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
3
Years on record
2005–2010
Latest incident
Jun 2010
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2005
88
citations
19
significant & substantial
$35,824
proposed penalties
$29,570
paid to date
83% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $6,254 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Croell, Inc.'s full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2004
38
inspections on record
468
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: 468 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: 2015-11-24.
On record since 2015.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.

Wash Plant 1 has $36K in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 9 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.
$36K
proposed penalties
$30K
current assessed
$30K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
87 assessments are final orders; 9 contested dockets.
Of $27K in penalties contested before the Commission, $21K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-10-06.
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.
21.8%
significant & substantial
8.0%
high negligence or reckless
21.8%
reasonably likely or greater
48.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.0% low, 83.9% moderate, 8.0% 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.
34 citations taken to the federal commission · 39% of citations on record
  • Settled 13 · 38%
  • Stood as issued 20 · 59%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 3%
54%
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 13 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
24%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$27K proposed, $21K 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 2018-12-18.
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 2016-0301 Settlement Simonton 2016 $11K → $10K
CENT 2010-900M Dismissal Lesnick 2011 $5K → $3K
WEST 2016-404 Settlement Simonton 2018 $4K → $3K
WEST 2017-0096 Settlement Lesnick 2017 $2K → $1K
WEST 2016-0547 Settlement Simonton 2016 $2K → $2K
CENT 2010-1182M Settlement Lesnick 2011 $2K → $436
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: 2016-09-28, 9 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
5
samples
2
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg3
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (5)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2016-09-28 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Front-end Loader Operator
2016-09-28 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.14 1.38 0.10 Front-end Loader Operator
2016-09-28 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Washer Operator
2005-10-06 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.2 1.45 0.14 Truck Driver
2005-10-06 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. Croell, Inc. 2004 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 2
2025 3
2024 2
2023 2
2022 3
2021 2
2020 2
2019 4
2018 3
2017 1
2016 5
2015 5
2014 4
2013 5
2012 3
2011 4
2010 5
2009 3
2008 4
2007 4
2006 6
2005 4
2004 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Wash Plant 1 sits in Fall River County, South Dakota, where the Census mining category is 0.9% 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.
Fall River County, South Dakota · Population 7,179
0.9%
Mining share of county employment
$61,056
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 866 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 0 0 0
2025 Q4 1,518 1 0 658.8
2025 Q3 1,891 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 1,491 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 678 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 502 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 1,860 0 0 0.0
Show 77 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 1,183 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 0 0 0
2023 Q4 1,397 2 1 1431.6
2023 Q3 1,245 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 1,000 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 0 0 0
2022 Q4 1,260 2 2 1587.3
2022 Q3 1,824 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 1,547 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 384 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 1,130 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 1,060 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 932 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 0 0 0
2020 Q4 1,598 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 1,256 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 578 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 294 1 0 3401.4
2019 Q3 950 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 722 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 670 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 1,079 6 1 5560.7
2018 Q3 909 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 865 1 0 1156.1
2018 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 0 1 0
2017 Q3 96 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 1 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 1,060 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 1,057 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 1,008 1 0 992.1
2016 Q1 449 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 936 13 3 13888.9
2015 Q3 846 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 1,230 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 1,410 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 940 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 2,183 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 1,365 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 633 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 1,830 7 1 3825.1
2013 Q3 2,215 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 1,346 8 0 5943.5
2013 Q1 1,628 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 968 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 1,147 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 1,712 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 894 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 2,205 6 0 2721.1
2010 Q3 2,545 0 0 0.0
2010 Q2 3,173 14 2 4412.2
2010 Q1 0 0 0
2009 Q4 2,135 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 531 7 5 13182.7
2009 Q2 223 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 803 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,772 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 1,130 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 2,690 1 0 371.7
2007 Q3 2,111 12 1 5684.5
2007 Q2 1,212 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 1,109 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 3,593 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 3,133 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 3,477 0 0 0.0
2006 Q1 3,746 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 2,440 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 868 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 3,322 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 410 5 3 12195.1
2004 Q4 0 0 0
2004 Q3 1,714 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 100 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

3 on file

2010 · 1 incident

June 2, 2010 SD · Metal/Non-Metal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Croell, Inc. · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Croell employee was coiling electric cord and strained his right shoulder.

2006 · 1 incident

May 23, 2006 SD · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Croell, Inc. · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Was pumping up fuel into Gen Set on 05/23/06 when he felt a pain and heard a pop. Went to doctor later that afternoon and was diagnosed with a pulled groin muscle. EE was given a work release on 05/24/06 and released for full duty on 05/25/06.

2005 · 1 incident

April 8, 2005 SD · Metal/Non-Metal belt foreman, maintenance foreman, maintenance supervisor HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Croell, Inc. · Struck by flying object

He got a large piece of coarse sand in right eye which needed medical attention. Employee was wearing safety glasses.