1993-11-15_PERMIT FILE - C1981017

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into the Agreement. The Agreement, which was modified to require that reclamation begin by August 3, 1992 (Appendix 18) , required that specific reclamation goals be accomplished within specific time frames. In February, 1992, Resources filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Federal court, Denver, Colorado. The Division filed an appearance in Federal court as a secured creditor, arguing that the reclamation bond provided this status. The Office of Surface Mining, a co-obligee on the reclamation bond, did not file an appearance. Subsequent to filing the bankruptcy petition, Resources filed a motion with the court requesting that a salvage company be awarded a contract to dismantle the structures at the site. The petition established a fee structure for which a percentage of the sales returns would be provided to Resources, dedicated for site reclamation. Therefore, reclamation of the site would proceed under two conditions. Equipment salvage and sales would precede earth work and revegetation, as these activities would initially be funded by the equipment sales. Earth work and revegetation timing would be paced by the speed and profitability of sales. The sale of equipment moved slowly through September of 1992 and the Summer of 1993 . Resources did indeed fall behind on the reclamation work outlined in the Agreement. However, some reclamation work was being accomplished at the site during this time. Many mine structures have been removed from three of the five mine entries. One entry has been backfilled and graded to permit specifications, and reseeded. One refuse disposal facility has been regraded and topsoiled. Underground storage tanks have been removed, overland conveyors have been sold and dismantled, and various other reclamation tasks have been accomplished. The Division recognized early in 1993 that the work contemplated under the Agreement for completion in 1993 would not be accomplished due to the poor sales of equipment which directly impacted cash availability. The Division at that time determined that bond forfeiture near the end of the construction season, timed to coincide with the filing of a personal liability suit, would maximize site reclamation efforts. An effort to forfeit the bond prior to completion of the construction season would have effectively ensured that no further reclamation work would be accomplished by Resources. The State has no general reclamation fund, and the OSM had indicated that it could not make reclamation funds available for this site either (Appendix 19) . In the spring of 1993, Resources proposed to accomplish a number of reclamation activities at the mine. To date, Resources has accomplished reclamation of the 5 Mine, completed structural -14-