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Addendum #2 — WFC and Morgan Dispute Resolution Discussion <br />DRMS Question 9 (page 25): <br />Documentation of dispute resolution between the Morgans and WFC has not been provided. In <br />accordance with the Division's approach to this issue, as stated in Mr. Berry's August 20, 2010 letter, <br />please provide the Division with the status of ongoing discussions between Morgan property <br />representatives and WFC regarding previous soil resource issues. <br />WFC Response: <br />As DRMS is aware, on August 23, 2010, the Morgan family filed a lawsuit against WFC seeking <br />$5,130,365 in damages for alleged past harm to the Morgan property. The Morgans have also filed a <br />separate lawsuit against DRMS seeking the same amount of damages, for a combined demand between <br />the two actions of $10,268,730. Though the Complaint is broadly drafted, WFC assumes the premise of <br />the Morgan lawsuits is the previous handling of topsoil on the Morgan property. The filing of these <br />lawsuits has brought negotiations of these issues to a standstill. However, the following details reflect <br />what WFC has been able to accomplish prior to the filing of the lawsuit. <br />The Issue: Summary of the "Previous Soil Resource Issues" cited by DRMS <br />On June 9, 2010 the Office of Surface Mining issued a document that summarizes accurately the "past <br />soil resource issues" subject to the DRMS request: <br />The active pit first entered the Morgan property in 2004 and mining was conducted in <br />accordance with PR -5 until, as a result of Ms. Turner's calls and correspondence, <br />DRMS initiated a reevaluation of its negative prime farmland determination. On <br />January 14, 2008, DRMS requested a review by the NRCS of the prime farmlands <br />determination for the Morgan property. The NRCS responded on February 11, 2008 <br />and explained that the Colorado Important Farmland Inventory document used in the <br />PR -5 baseline evaluation contained an error wherein the threshold pH should have been <br />8.4 instead of 7.4. The NRCS also stated that the document (Colorado Important <br />Farmland Inventory) was put together sometime around 1980 and was no longer <br />current. At the time, WFC had already mined through a portion of the Morgan property <br />and topsoil had been stripped from 51.6 acres. <br />See, Exhibit 1 (OSM Interim Finding) page 3 ¶ 6. <br />This document was an interim response to the Morgan family's Ten -Day Notice of Violation in which <br />the Morgans alleged that the above - described soil management activities constituted a violation of the <br />Colorado regulatory program. The OSM interim finding from the Western Region Office left <br />undisturbed the determination of the Denver Field Office, responding to a DRMS finding, that "the <br />terms of the [WFC] permit for the New Horizon Mine properly implement the requirements of the <br />Colorado regulatory program, and that mining and reclamation of the Morgan property located within <br />