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<br />The most prominent pre-mining landform within Pit No. 1 was <br />a continuous north-south running ridge. Tr., 56; Ex. Nos. G-3, <br />G-5. The mining plan allowed Kerr to extract a near-vertical <br />seam of coal running east-west through the ridge. Tr., 82-83. <br />Extraction necessarily required the removal of material along and <br />around the coal seam, resulting in a large east-west gap through <br />the ridge. Tr., 457-58; Ex. No. A-42. <br />Sometime after 1980, local market conditions for the sale of <br />coal worsened. Tr., 478, 482-87. As a consequence, Kerr decided <br />to temporarily abandon its plan to extract coal from Pit Nos. 2 <br />and 3. Tr., 473-78. •Accordingly, Kerr submitted to DMG an <br />application to revise its mining and reclamation plan. Tr., 52- <br />53, 472-73. DMG approved the revised plan in 1990. Tr., 49. <br />Extraction of coal from the mine ceased in January 1993. <br />Tr., 480. <br />in April 1994, Kerr filed an application with DMG for phase <br />I bond release. Tr., 37. In the application, Kerr sought a <br />partial release of its reclamation bond on the basis that it had <br />completed, or substantially completed, its backfilling and <br />grading work at the mine, including at Pit No. 1. Tr., 37, 214; <br />see also Ex. Nos. A-22, G-9, G-10, G-14. <br />On May 12, 1994, a bond release inspection was held at the <br />mine, attended by representatives of DMG, Kerr, and OSM's <br />Albuquerque Field Office (AFO). Tr., 36, 68-69, 100; Ex. No. G- <br />16. AFO attended because its concurrence was necessary for <br />4 <br />