As one who believes in and defends mining, as one who is often paid by mining companies, it disturbs me deeply how this mining company has behaved. Shameless. Bad for the industry.

I'd love to read the report, but I don't think I ever will, and you may know how much I hate that. Really breaks up the flow of a scientific arguement when there are all those redacted pages.

There was a much longer post here, full of brilliant and well written observations: mining methods, over-burden fill ratios of a given void space, a discussion on the room and pillar method of coal mining, what happens when those pillars are removed, complications of using old maps, speculations on survey techniques under slurry, void grouting, explosively induced mine fill, acid drainage, ground-water fluctuations and collapse probabilities, geophysical approaches to the problem, other disposal methods, reclaimation bond law, the clean water act, comparisons to the Summitville Mine situation, a rant about exoteric science, a defense of the value of standing and staring at a hole in the ground, how geology is alot like reconstructing a destroyed aircraft- harder - sometimes, a funny story about soil geologists........ but, it was reviewed by the boys in the front office and they said I could not post it. Sorry.

Redactedly,
jms