Laserfiche WebLink
Accounting <br /> (Case No. 97 CV 131-1) <br /> Please find attached an accounting of the amount of money the Division of Minerals and <br /> Geology has received from Mid-Continent Resources' liquidation plan; the amount of money <br /> expended for reclamation; the amount of money on hand; and an estimate of the cost of <br /> reclamation still needed to be performed. <br /> For the portion of the accounting concerning the amount of money received and expended <br /> by the Division for reclamation purposes, you will find a running account which specifies amounts <br /> received, amounts expended, and the task performed in regard to the expenditure. For the cost <br /> estimate of tasks still needed to be performed, the accounting provides a summary sheet, a list of <br /> reclamation projects, the tasks needed to be done to accomplish the project, the estimated cost of <br /> each task, and the sum total for each project. The cost estimate is for reclamation to be <br /> performed based on present day requirements and conditions, and does not include estimates <br /> based on suggested changes to the reclamation plan or end land use. This is necessary in order <br /> for the Division to provide an accounting to the parties at this time. For this reason, the estimate <br /> includes work that was to be performed by M& E at the mine site and at the Load-out facility in <br /> Carbondale, but has not been completed by M& E. <br /> Except for the pond removal project and large ripping tasks, the Division arrived at the <br /> cost estimates by using costs submitted in prior, actual bids for similar work done specifically at <br /> the Coal Basin mine site, averaging the costs from the two or three lowest bids, and applying <br /> these costs to the tasks of the remaining projects. For some tasks, the Division has adjusted the <br /> average cost based on site or bid specific information which required an adjustment in an average <br /> cost for a task. In addition to the above-described accounting, to expedite this matter, the <br /> Division is also providing you with the names of the bids used to estimate the costs, the actual <br /> unit prices, and the averaged unit prices. <br /> For the pond removal project and large ripping tasks, the Division used its computerized <br /> program since there were no prior bids that were sufficiently similar to use to estimate this <br /> project. The computerized cost estimate program is based on published data (Catepillar <br /> Handbook, Means Corporation Guide, etc) and data from the Abandoned Mined Land program. <br /> An overall five percent has been added to the cost estimate to cover inflation, changes to <br /> work orders, and unanticipated costs resulting from unforeseen site conditions or circumstances. <br /> The Division anticipates that principle reclamation will be completed in 1999, with mine <br /> maintenance continuing for 10 years thereafter. The Division has added a very small percentage <br /> to cover increases in costs due to inflation. The Division's experience at the Coal Basin mine site <br /> has been that a number of changes to work orders (bids) occurs on almost every reclamation task, <br /> and that the average increase in the cost because of these changes is 4.6%. Given this history, the <br /> Division anticipates that additional work changes will occur. Further, as you are aware, the Coal <br /> Basin mine site is an especially complex site. The permitted area for this mine site contains <br /> thousands of acres, spans three counties, involves approximately five miles of roads yet to be <br />