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Colorado Coal Program, mining permits are revised periodically to update their <br />provisions. R.7304:17- 7305:11. <br />3. In 1998, Western Fuels - Colorado and the senior Morgans entered into <br />a lease under which Western Fuels - Colorado obtained the right to mine coal on the <br />Morgan property. <br />4. In 1999, a soil survey was conducted by an independent contractor, <br />who determined that the Morgan property did not constitute prime farmland, <br />relying on the Important Colorado Farmland Inventory. R. 7324:3 -20; R. 7326:1- <br />4; Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance, R. 7827, 3d and 4th <br />paragraphs. Due to a typographical error, the Inventory stated that the pH of prime <br />farmland soil could not be above 7.4, when it should have said pH could not be <br />above 8.4. R. 6317, third paragraph; R. 7324:11 -20; R. 7326:9 -24; Proposed <br />Decision and Findings of Compliance, R. 7827, 5th paragraph. The pH of the <br />Morgan soil was between 7.4 and 8.4, and hence the contractor opined that the <br />Morgan's soil did not qualify for designation as prime farmland. R. 7324:10- <br />7328:5. <br />5. In 2000, a permit revision called "PR -5" was approved by the Board, <br />pursuant to which the Morgans' property, not classified as prime farmland, could <br />be mined under the permit. DRMS did not receive any objections to PR -5 and no <br />{00145923 2 , 5 <br />