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d. The Forest Service's Conclusions as Based on Mr. Davis's <br />Statements Are Unsupported by Evidence or Analysis. <br />Fourth, Mr. Davis has effectively admitted that his February 25 letter is supported by no <br />data, and that he is ignorant of the history of flaring at operating coal mines, something the <br />appellants found with a phone call to EPA and a few web searches. <br />In recent responses signed by Mr. Davis to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, <br />MSHA repeatedly indicates that the agency had no records of reviews or other analysis to <br />support the assertions in Mr. Davis' letter. Specifically, MSHA confirmed: <br />-- that the agency had "No records available" concerning and/or supporting a <br />"determine[ation]" by Mr. Davis and/or MSHA that "too many unknowns about this <br />system [i.e. a coal mine gob well flare system] exist at the present time to approve such a <br />system," as stated in the second sentence of the second page of Mr. Davis's February 25 <br />letter. <br />-- that the agency had "No records available" concerning and/or supporting the statement on <br />page 2 of Mr. Davis's February 25 letter that "Any such [coal mine gob well flare] <br />system design should be tested in a coal mine methane flaring situation in which no <br />miners are exposed, such as a swaled and abandoned mine, for sufficient time to test the <br />viability and durability of the system and ensure it has zero potential to cause the ignition <br />of gas underground before this office would consider incorporating it into an active mine <br />ventilation system." <br />-- that the agency had "No records available" concerning and/or supporting the statement on <br />page 2 of Mr. Davis's February 25 letter that "There are too many questions remaining <br />unanswered, no evaluations and no actual testing in a no risk situation that demonstrates <br />the [coal mine gob well flare] system's safety for this office to approve the incorporation <br />of such a system into the ventilation plan at the West Elk Mine at the present time." <br />Letter of A. Davis, MSHA to E. Zukoski, Earthjustice (Mar. 19, 2008) (MSHA Response, FOIA <br />Control No. OSRV-F2008-517589) at 2, 3, attached as Exh. 18. <br />Mr. Davis was also apparently ignorant of documentation on coal mine methane flaring. <br />Although Mr. Davis claims to be aware of the EPA study "Conceptual Design for a Coal Mine <br />Gob Well Flare" in his February 25 letter, MSHA provided no evidence that the District 9 office <br />in general, or Mr. Davis in particular, had given it a critical review. Id. at 2. Mr. Davis' office <br />APPEAL OF E SEAM METHANE DRAINAGE WELLS PROJECT, APRIL 28, 2008 PAGE 18