FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
601 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, NW
SUITE 9500
WASHINGTON, DC 20001
February 29, 2012
SECRETARY OF LABOR, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (MSHA)
v.
ALVIN J. COLEMAN & SON, INC. |
: : : : : : : : |
Docket No. YORK 2010-77-M A.C. No. 27-00050-202337 |
BEFORE: Jordan, Chairman; Duffy, Young, Cohen, and Nakamura, Commissioners
ORDER
BY THE COMMISSION:
This matter arises under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (2006) (“Mine Act”). On August 22, 2011, the Commission received from Alvin J. Coleman & Son, Inc. (“Coleman”) a motion seeking to reopen a penalty assessment proceeding and relieve it from the order of default entered against it.
On March 15, 2011, Chief Administrative Law Judge Lesnick issued an Order to Show Cause and Order of Default in response to Coleman’s failure to answer the Secretary’s January 6, 2010 Petition for Assessment of Civil Penalty. The judge ordered the operator to file its answer within 30 days or it would be in default.
Coleman asserts that it submitted a timely answer to the Secretary’s Petition for Assessment and did not receive the Order to Show Cause. The Secretary does not oppose the request to reopen and notes that the Philadelphia Regional Solicitor’s Office indicated that the operator’s answer was timely received by the MSHA Warrendale, PA District Office on February 1, 2010. The answer indicates that it was also sent to the Commission.
Having reviewed Coleman’s request and the Secretary’s response, in the interest of justice, we conclude that the Order of Default should be vacated because Coleman timely filed an answer to the petition. Accordingly, this case is remanded to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for further proceedings pursuant to the Mine Act and the Commission’s Procedural Rules, 29 C.F.R. Part 2700.
/s/ Mary Lu Jordan
Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman
/s/ Michael F. Duffy
Michael F. Duffy, Commissioner
/s/Michael G. Young
Michael G. Young, Commissioner
/s/ Robert F. Cohen, Jr.
Robert F. Cohen, Jr., Commissioner
/s/ Patrick K. Nakamura
Patrick K. Nakamura, Commissioner
Distribution:
Judson S. Ludeking
Contractors Risk Mngmt., Inc.
P.O. Box 211
Concord, NH 03302-0211
W. Christian Schumann, Esq.
Office of the Solicitor
U.S. Department of Labor
1100 Wilson Blvd., Room 2220
Arlington, VA 22209-2296
Melanie Garris
Office of Civil Penalty Compliance
MSHA
U.S. Dept. of Labor
1100 Wilson Blvd., 25th Floor
Arlington, VA 22209-3939
Chief Administrative Law Judge Robert J. Lesnick
Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission
601 New Jersey Avenue, N. W., Suite 9500
Washington, D.C. 20001-2021