Bonds come in many forms, and about one-fifth of the bonds backing Contura’s future reclamation liabilities are collateral, or property, bonds. That means if Contura proved unable to complete the cleanup required at Belle Ayr, the state would intervene by collecting and forfeiting the bonds to finish the job.

By investigating the appraisal documents, the council sought to protect taxpayers from the possibility of covering extra cleanup costs.

“We are pleased that the judge agreed with us that this needs to be an open, transparent process in order to protect Wyoming’s taxpayers from taking on too much risk. Contura is the first coal company to use a real estate bond for reclamation, but they may not be the last, and we need to know that companies are being up-front in this important process. Had this appraisal been allowed to remain confidential, it would have set a dangerous precedent for other coal companies to do the same,” stated Joyce Evans, council chair for the landowners group.

Risky collateral

Belle Ayr is the first coal mine to use collateral bonds for reclamation purposes in the basin, according to the council. Collateral bonds can come with certain risks, because property values fluctuate over time, explained Shannon Anderson, an attorney for the Powder River Basin Resource Council.