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CMA <br />December 4, 2012 <br />Excellence in Obtaining NOI Bond Release and Terminating DRMS Jurisdiction <br />Peabody Energy <br />Page 3 of 3 <br />Peabody Energy (Peabody) operates several surface and underground coal mines in northwest Colorado and <br />has operated in the area since the mid 1960's. Through acquisition of past entities, Peabody became <br />responsible for a legacy of outstanding "Notices of Intent" (NOIs) for coal exploration in addition to those <br />directly initiated by Peabody. The bond on these outstanding NOls was near $1.5 million, and several have <br />been considered active for over 30 years. Both Peabody and the DRMS have a keen interest in addressing the <br />reclamation, inspection, and final bond release for outstanding NOIs. The Peabody Environmental team, <br />coordinating with the DRMS, developed a process to accomplish the objective. <br />A number of challenges were encountered including locating records from older NOls and finding these sites in <br />the field. Peabody worked closely with the DRMS to develop a list of outstanding NOls that included past entity <br />names, dates of submittals, site coordinates or descriptions, and bond amounts. The DRMS's Laserfiche System <br />was utilized to locate missing files. ArcGIS was utilized to take site descriptions or coordinate lists in various <br />coordinates systems to develop shapefiles that were overlaid on an aerial photo base to document all NOI <br />locations and assist in locating difficult to find sites. Peabody environmental staff was able to lump individual <br />projects together on maps generated in ArcGIS to facilitate efficient site inspections resulting in time, <br />administrative, and cost savings. <br />Peabody has also increased diligence and effort to release NOls on more recent exploration projects and has <br />acquired bond release in as little as two years resulting in additional cost savings for both Peabody and the <br />DRMS. The efforts to address more timely bond release will minimize future time and costs needed to track <br />and release these NOls. <br />Since 2009, over $1.4 million has been released, with over $1.1 million coming in the last year. Peabody Energy <br />is to be commended for their excellent efforts to obtain bond release and terminate DRMS jurisdiction on all <br />possible outstanding NOls in northwest Colorado. <br />Contacts: <br />B. Scott Cowman —Sr. Environmental Specialist <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mining, LLC <br />36600 Routt County Rd. #27 <br />Hayden, CO 81639 <br />970 - 276 -7003 <br />Jennifer Hunt — Environmental Engineer Associate <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mining, LLC <br />36600 Routt County Rd. #27 <br />Hayden, CO 81639 <br />970 - 276 -7025 <br />Please let me know if you have any questions or if you need anything further. Thank you for your ongoing <br />support of this valuable awards program. <br />Sincerely, <br />Sandra L. Brown <br />Sr. Environmental Protection Specialist <br />c: Loretta E. Pineda, Director <br />David A. Berry, Director Office of Mined Land Reclamation <br />