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Department of Public Health and Environment, a department completely separate from the <br /> Department of Natural Resources and a department not named as a party to this action. <br /> Under the circumstances presented here, this Court should deny the Third-Party <br /> Plaintiffs' Motion to Amend Third-Party Complaint. The Third-Party Plaintiffs have failed <br /> to meet their burden of establishing a sufficient reason why they could not have brought <br /> these claims earlier than now. They argue that these issues arose during discovery. <br /> However, certain of their claims for relief concern reclamation performed by the Division <br /> last year and mostly unspecified reclamation performed since 1994. Moreover, the discovery <br /> done in this case was completed in March 1998, and the Division provided the requested <br /> accounting seven (7) months ago. See Polk, supra. <br /> In addition, the claims asserted in the amended complaint are substantially different <br /> from, and much more expansive, than the ones asserted in the present Third-Party Complaint. <br /> If allowed, these claims will require new witnesses, potentially new parties, new defenses, <br /> and additional discovery. <br /> At this stage of the proceedings, granting the motion to amend will unduly prejudice <br /> the Division. As stated above, the Division gave the Third-Party Plaintiffs an accounting <br /> which laid out its reclamation plan and an estimate of costs for that plan, answered extensive <br /> interrogatories, and agreed to discuss with them reclamation issues. <br /> In the meantime, the Division also had to prepare for the 1998 reclamation season, <br /> which usually begins mid-June and ends in October or November. Preparation for the <br /> reclamation season entails determining the reclamation tasks to be conducted, writing bids <br /> 5 <br />