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<br /> <br />In addition to these field visits and reports by OSM and DMG <br />experts, OSM assisted DMG in the investigation by using <br />sophisticated computer modeling software to determine if <br />subsidence could have been causing damage to the Tatum house (AR <br />III-1). Even when OSM assumed mine conditions far worse than <br />those that actually existed (such as assuming 100 percent coal <br />extraction instead of the actual coal extraction ratio of 31 <br />percent), the computer model showed that subsidence would not <br />reach the Tatum house. In addition, the computer model showed <br />that, had subsidence occurred, the railroad tracks near the Tatum <br />property, located directly above the mine workings, would have <br />subsided dramatically. In field investigations, OSM expert Mike <br />Rosenthal found no evidence of subsidence of the railroad tracks <br />(AR III-5). <br />Finally, the investigation revealed that no movement of the <br />foundation of the house had been observed (AR III-5 and II-8). <br />As stated by DMG Coal Program Supervisor Susan McCannon, evidence <br />of foundation movement is a critical indicator of mine subsidence <br />(AR II-5). In addition, OSM's Dr. Jesse Craft asserted that the <br />cracks in the wall of the house did not start at the bottom of <br />the wall and radiate upward, consistent with subsidence damage <br />(AR II-1). <br />Faced with the State's detailed and cogently reasoned <br />response to the TDN, and the reports of his own experts that <br />35 <br />