OWEN CO. – A mining company in Owen County has been ordered to pay over $100,000 to the government after allegedly neglecting to settle fines related to prior health and safety violations.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced the Justice Department had secured a judgment against Eagle Stone, Inc., a crushed limestone mining operation, after the company failed to pay civil penalties imposed for violations of federal mining health and safety standards.
Eagle Stone, Incorporated, operating at Gosport Stone in Owen County, reportedly incurred numerous civil penalties for hazardous working conditions from 2019 to 2022.
However, law enforcement authorities have indicated that the company remained in debt, accruing interest into 2023. As a resolution, the company must settle $110,000 to address its outstanding penalties.
“Miners and other professionals in the field deserve a safe workplace as they do important jobs for our communities and our economy,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “When companies disregard safety standards, they must be held accountable. This judgment and recovery on behalf of the public demonstrates that the Department of Justice and Department of Labor are committed to ensuring that companies pay fines for endangering workers and do not evade accountability.”
Department of Labor officials echoed U.S. Attorney Myers’s remarks. “When employers avoid their legal obligations, the U.S. Department of Labor will use its enforcement powers to hold them accountable,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “We are pleased to partner with the Department of Justice in implementing vigorous enforcement strategies to ensure mine operators are held accountable when they cut corners on mine safety and health.”
“Civil penalties are one of the primary mechanisms MSHA uses to compel operators to improve safety and health conditions at their mines,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “I thank Zachary Myers and his office for their efforts to pursue unpaid civil penalties. Those efforts will make miners in Indiana and across the country safer and healthier.”
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Taylor Kirklin and Jason Grover, Counsel for Trial Litigation in the Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, who litigated the case.
