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-~ , <br /> <br />Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP <br />January 12, 2007 <br />Mr. Dave Berry <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Re: Basin Resources, Inc. <br />Letter from Ann Tatum <br />Dear Mr. Berry: <br />RECEfVED <br />dp~l 16 2001 <br />Division of R d Safety n <br />Mining <br />The letter of Ms. Ann Tatum dated December 7, 2006 and your response to Ms. Tatum <br />dated December 27, 2006 have been referred to me for response on behalf of Basin Resources, <br />Inc. ("Basin"). <br />Ms. Tatum makes reference in her letter to Westmoreland Coal Company and <br />Westmoreland Mining LLC. However, Basin was the only party against which judgment was <br />entered in the lawsuit referenced by Ms. Tatum, alleging that the Tatums' property was damaged <br />by the subsidence of the Golden Eagle Mine. Westmoreland Coal Company purchased the stock <br />of Basin on April 30, 2001, approximately one month after Mr. and Ms. Tatum filed their 2001 <br />lawsuit against Basin. At the time of the purchase, Basin had ceased mining and the Golden <br />Eagle Mine had been closed for several years. <br />Neither Westmoreland Coal Company nor Westmoreland Mining LLC is or was the <br />permitee or the operator of the Golden Eagle Mine, as those terms are defined in the Colorado <br />Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act, C.R.S. § 34-33-103(14) and (20). Neither of those <br />companies had any involvement in the mining operations which gave rise to the Tatums' lawsuit. <br />Mr. and Ms. Tatum have never suggested the Westmoreland companies were responsible for the <br />alleged subsidence or attempted to join them in the lawsuit. <br />You are aware that the Tatums procured a Notice of Violation concerning this subsidence <br />issue from the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety ("the Division") on November 1, <br />2000 (NOV CV-2000-009), and subsequently requested that the Division vacate that NOV <br />because the Tatums elected to pursue their claims under the Colorado Surface Coal Mining <br />Reclamation Act against Basin in court. Basin raised a strong protest against this action, <br />resulting in two hearings before the Mined Land Reclamation Board. As a result of those <br />hearings, the Board vacated the NOV, and deferred to the jurisdiction of the court system. <br />Scot W Anderson 303 892 7383 scot.anderson@daslaw.com <br />1550 Seventeenth Street Suite 500 Denver, Colorado 80202 303 892 9400 fax 303 893 1379 <br />www.dgslaw.com <br />#758641.2 <br />