_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 ‎(253)‎

• Permit No: C1981017
• IBM Index Class Name: GENERAL DOCUMENTS
• Doc Name: Bid Documents ‎(IMP)‎ 1994 Correspondence
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver,Colorado 80203
Phone [phone]
FAX [phone]
DEPARTMENT
NATUR'
RESOURC:
Roy Romer
Governor
COAL BASIN RECLAMATION UPDATE )amen S.Lochhead Direct
Executive Director
AUGUST 15, 1994 Michael B.Long
Division Director
RECLAMATION CONTRACTING Early this year it was proposed that the Division
would fund reclamation contractors with forfeited bond funds. This money would be
paid to the reclamation contractors with Mid-Continent acting as a clearing house. The
contractors would have been responsible to the Division, however, rather than to
Mid-Continent. No reclamation funds became available until mid-July, 1994. At that
time, the Attorney General determined that the Division must enter contracts pursuant
to the Colorado Procurement Code requirements. Therefore, all reclamation projects at
Coal Basin will be put out to competitive bid as required by the Procurement Code.
This decision, in practical terms, eliminates Mid-Continent's participation in the
reclamation process. The Division will control reclamation at the mine. Mid-Continent,
as with any coal mine permittee, remains legally liable for the cost of achieving
reclamation at the mine. The Division is drafting reclamation specifications which form
the basis of the Invitations to Bid, which will be sent to reclamation contractors
throughout the State.
BANKRUPTCY CASE The Mid-Continent liquidation plan was confirmed in Federal
bankruptcy court in early April, and became effective in early July. The plan requires
that 69% of the liquidation proceeds be provided to a reclamation account. These funds
are dedicated exclusively to the reclamation of the mine site and the coal loadout facility
in Carbondale. The first funds, approximately $234,000, were received into the account
in mid-July, 1994.
ROCK DUST PLANT Separate buyers were found for the Rock Dust Plant equipment
and for the real estate. The equipment sale was approved by the Federal Bankruptcy
Court this past Spring, and the sale closed in late June. Proceeds from the sale,
approximately $234,000, were deposited into the reclamation account in mid-July. The
Division initially objected to the sale of the real estate pending completion of an
independent appraisal of the property contracted for by the Division. The appraisal
indicated that the proposed sales price was in line with selling prices of comparable
properties in the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys. The Division withdrew its
objection based both upon the appraisal, and after Pitkin Iron, operator of the Rock
Dust Plant, guaranteed that any necessary environmental remediation of the Plant would