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s <br /> to flood, and the Debtor has begun final reclamation of the Mine <br /> site. The Debtor thus believes that it has no alternative to a <br /> piecemeal liquidation of its real and personal property. <br /> In the Debtor's view, there are two alternatives to the <br /> Plan, liquidation under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code and <br /> dismissal of the bankruptcy case. The Debtor believes that neither <br /> of these alternatives would serve creditor interests or the public <br /> reclamation interest. These alternatives nonetheless are described <br /> below. <br /> A. Chapter 7 Liquidation <br /> There is no reason to believe that any assets would be <br /> available for unsecured creditors in a Chapter 7 liquidation, since <br /> all assets are pledged to Sanwa and the probable liquidation value <br /> of the estate is approximately one-third of what is owed to Sanwa. <br /> One advantage of Chapter 11 over Chapter 7 is that unsecured <br /> creditors in a Chapter 11 case have voting rights, and the <br /> confirmation standards applicable to Chapter 11 plans encourage <br /> senior and junior classes of creditors to compromise in a manner <br /> that will encourage junior classes to vote for the plan. This has <br /> made it possible to propose a plan in which some value is <br /> distributed to unsecured creditors despite Sanwa's senior lien <br /> position. <br /> Chapter 7 also is ill-suited for the reclamation problems <br /> which are central to this case. It might be possible for a trustee <br /> to sell the Mine site and seek to impose some of the costs of <br /> reclamation against Sanwa as a cost of sale. However, in practice <br /> it is highly unlikely that a trustee would administer the Mine site <br /> because of the reclamation and environmental problems associated <br /> with the site and because all of the proceeds would go to Sanwa as <br /> a secured creditor. <br /> B. Dismissal <br /> Dismissal of the bankruptcy case would terminate the <br /> automatic stay which prohibits creditors from taking collection <br /> action against the Debtor. However, the Debtor has no operating <br /> business and no unencumbered funds. Lawsuits by creditors thus <br /> would be unlikely to result in any recovery on their claims. <br /> The Plan is premised on a consensual release by Class 9 <br /> general unsecured creditors of Sanwa, Minerals, and Minerals' other <br /> subsidiaries, in consideration of the funds to be provided to Class <br /> 9 under the Plan. If the Plan is rejected by Class 9 creditors and <br /> the case is dismissed, creditors of the Debtor in theory could <br /> attempt to collect their claims from Minerals or its other <br /> subsidiaries. The principal subsidiary is Coal & Coke. Minerals <br /> and Coal & Coke each advise that they deny having any liability on <br /> claims against the Debtor, with the exception of the claim of Sanwa <br /> 38 <br />