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Establishment profile

BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY

10026 OLD RIDGE ROAD, ASHLAND, VA, 23005
Operated by White Birch Paper
322122Newsprint Mills

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OSHA inspections
10
over 37 years
Violations
61
$30,493 in penalties
Penalties
$30,493
$500 avg
Violations across 2 federal agencies
Enforcement actions from multiple agencies may indicate systemic compliance issues across functions.
Accident investigations on record
1 fatality · 3 OSHA follow-ups

Summary

BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY has accumulated 61 OSHA violations across 10 inspections over 37 years of recorded history, with $30,493 in total assessed penalties.

The establishment sits in the 96th percentile for violations within its industry-state peer group of 47 employers. Inspection frequency runs at the 89th percentile. The most recent enforcement activity was recorded 10 years ago.

Federal records were found in 2 of 15 sources. Sources without matching records returned empty for this establishment.

Agency coverage

BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY appears in OSHA workplace safety and EPA environmental compliance records only. No matching records were found in WHD wage enforcement, MSHA mine safety, NLRB labor relations, OFLC visa and labor certification (historical), FMCSA motor carrier registration, SAM.gov federal debarment, CMS nursing home enforcement, UVA Corporate Prosecution Registry, CPSC product recalls, or NHTSA vehicle recalls.

OSHA workplace safety

Inspections
10
0.3 / yr · last 37 yrs
Violations
61
1.6 / yr
Penalties
$30,493
$500 avg / violation
72% serious28% other
Inspection trigger · complaint
2 of 10
Inspection trigger · planned
2 of 10

50% of inspections at this establishment produced violations, with 4 inspections producing serious-or-greater violations.

Most-cited OSHA standards

Top OSHA standards cited at this employer, ranked by citation count. Standards (CFR sections) cluster citations into safety themes -- machine guarding, lockout-tagout, hazard communication, fall protection, process safety, etc. A concentration on one or two sections reveals a pattern that individual citations don’t. 20 distinct standards shown · 30 citations in this view · $23,668 in penalties.

CFR sectionCitationsInspectionsTotal penaltyFirst citedLast cited
29 CFR 1910.0261 B0352$2,323Aug 1992Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0146 C0222$2,063Aug 1999Apr 2005
29 CFR 5100.01 A21$1,370Feb 1990Feb 1990
29 CFR 1910.0219 D0121$1,100Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0213 H0122$950Feb 1990Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0219 C02 I22$870Feb 1990Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0215 B0922$813Feb 1990Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0095 G08 I11$3,500Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0261 E0111$1,750Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.1052 D0211$1,100Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.1018 E0411$1,100Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.1048 D0211$1,100Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0022 C11$875Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0134 C0311$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0134 C0111$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0120 Q1011$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0120 Q0611$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0120 Q0111$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.0134 F0111$688Aug 1999Aug 1999
29 CFR 1910.1018 E0211$630Aug 1992Aug 1992

Source: OSHA inspection citations (violation_detail). CFR section codes can be looked up at osha.gov/laws-regs for the formal standard text. Per-inspection detail and the specific violation descriptions are available by expanding individual inspections below.

Peer comparison

96th

Worse on violations than nearly every other employer in NAICS 3221 within VA. Peer group: 47 employers. This establishment has 61 OSHA violations; peer median is 2.

Fewer violationsMore violations
Penalty percentile
91st
peer median: $3,689
Inspection frequency
89th
peer median: 1

Safety self-report (OSHA 300A)

Recordable injury rates the employer filed with OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application. DART covers cases with days away, restricted, or transferred; TRIR is the total recordable case rate.

DART rate
1.5
vs industry
−0.3
TRIR
3.1
vs industry
0.0

Reported for 140 average annual employees at this establishment.

Source: OSHA ITA Form 300A (employer self-reported). Rates are per 100 full-time equivalent workers. Establishments below the ~10-FTE threshold are not required to report.

Industry benchmark

Industry avg TRIR
3.1
BLS SOII 2024
Industry avg DART
1.8
BLS SOII 2024
Self-reported TRIR
3.1
OSHA ITA Form 300A (employer self-reported)

BLS rates reflect industry-wide averages. Self-reported figures come from OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application; absence of self-reported data does not necessarily indicate non-compliance — many establishments fall below the ITA reporting threshold.

Inspection breakdown

Planned
2
Complaint
2
Accident
1
Referral
1

Complaint- and accident-triggered inspections are stronger risk signals than routine planned inspections.

OSHA severe injury reports

No severe injury reports (hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye) on file under 29 CFR 1904.39 for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA accident events

Accidents, fatalities, and catastrophes documented during OSHA inspections at this employer. Each entry links to the inspection that recorded it.

DateEventInjuriesHospitalizedFatalities
Nov 30, 1989ASPHYXIATED,HEMORRHAGE,WORK RULES,CLEANING,LOCKOUT,ROLLER--MACH/PART,CAUGHT BETWEEN,CONVEYOR,NIP POINTFatality11

Source: OSHA accident investigations. Narratives are recorded by the inspecting officer and may be truncated.

Activity timeline

Data refreshed
Weekly
First OSHA inspection
Most recent activity
10 years ago

No federal enforcement activity has been recorded against this establishment in 10+ years. Most recent activity: 10 years ago. Data on this page is refreshed weekly.

Wage & Hour Division (WHD)

No WHD wage, overtime, or child-labor enforcement cases on file for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with Wage and Hour Division

Mine safety (MSHA)

No MSHA mine safety violations on file for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with Mine Safety and Health Administration

Labor relations (NLRB)

No NLRB unfair labor practice charges or union representation cases on file for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with National Labor Relations Board

Visa & labor certification (OFLC) — historical

No H-1B, H-2A, or H-2B labor condition applications on file (historical data only — DOL ended OFLC publication) for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with Office of Foreign Labor Certification

Environmental compliance (EPA)

EPA inspections
4
Quarters non-compliant
8
Formal actions
2
EPA penalties
$53,745

EPA Enforcement and Compliance History — Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, RCRA, Safe Drinking Water Act. Status: Significant Violation.

EPA-registered facilities

Every EPA ECHO facility associated with this employer, sorted most-significant first. Each row links to EPA’s Detailed Facility Report for the source-of-truth record. Permits column lists active programs (Air = Clean Air Act, Water = Clean Water Act, RCRA = hazardous waste, TRI = Toxics Release Inventory reporting). 1 facility · 1 significant noncompliance · $53,745 in assessed penalties.

FacilityPermitsStatusInspectionsFormal actionsPenaltiesLast inspectedECHO
BEAR ISLAND PAPER CO LLC
10026 OLD RIDGE RD · ASHLAND, VA, 23005
WaterTRISignificant Violation
QNCR 8
42$53,745Mar 2026View →

Source: EPA ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online). Compliance status follows EPA’s own labels (“Sig Violation” = significant noncompliance; QNCR = quarters of noncompliance over the recent reporting window). Inactive facilities (struck through) retain historical enforcement records even after operations ceased.

Federal criminal prosecution record

No federal criminal prosecutions, plea agreements, or deferred-prosecution agreements on file for BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY. Verify directly with UVA Corporate Prosecution Registry

Inspection history

DateTriggerViolationsSeriousPenalty
2016-05-23Referral1$501
2015-04-24Complaint0$0
2005-11-18Monitoring0$0
2005-04-04Complaint33$1,375
1999-09-22Monitoring0$0
1999-06-04Planned3624$21,388
1995-08-30Follow-up0$0
1992-03-25Planned66$3,060
1989-11-30Accident1511$4,170
1988-12-28Unprogrammed Related0$0

Source: OSHA IMIS. Citation amounts reflect initially assessed penalties; final amounts after appeal may differ.

In the news

Part of a larger organization

BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY is one of 1 establishments rolled up under the parent organization White Birch Paper.

Federal enforcement records on this page represent activity at this specific establishment only. The full enforcement footprint of White Birch Paper across all 1 of its tracked locations is viewable on the parent profile.

Other employers in this industry and state

Other employers in newsprint mills within VA, ordered by federal enforcement volume:

Related searches

About this data

This profile aggregates federal enforcement records on BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY from every major federal compliance and enforcement source plus the UVA Corporate Prosecution Registry. OSHA workplace safety inspections, WHD wage cases, MSHA mine safety, EPA environmental enforcement, NLRB labor relations, OFLC visa/labor certification, FMCSA motor carrier registration, SAM.gov debarments, CMS nursing-home records, BLS industry safety benchmarks, OSHA ITA self-reported injury rates, SEC enforcement and financial disclosures, CPSC and NHTSA recalls.

Establishments are matched across agencies using normalized employer name, state, and ZIP code. This establishment resolves to the parent rollup White Birch Paper.

OSHA citations typically appear 3–8 months after the inspection, so very recent enforcement actions may not yet be reflected. Profiles may be incomplete if the establishment operates under multiple legal names or files under variations our entity-matching rules don’t yet cover. To report a missing record or correction, email corrections@fastdol.com.

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Frequently asked

What is BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY's OSHA violation history?
BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY has 10 OSHA inspections on record with 61 violations and $30,493 in total penalties.
How does BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY's safety record compare to its industry?
BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY operates in the newsprint mills industry. The industry average Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) is 3.1. BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY's self-reported DART rate is 1.54 compared to an industry average of 1.8.
Has BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY had any workplace fatalities?
Yes. Federal records show 1 fatality investigation involving BEAR ISLAND PAPER COMPANY.