[deport]

Yep... remove the shale leave a hole and then fill it back up but the problem is what do you do with the excess material after it's expanded from the heating process.... LOL. I thought the increase size was bigger but I couldn't remember.

Gulf Oil was there also and had prefected their operation to a point that they asked the Feds to raise their production quota from their current level and the Feds told them to get another 80 something enviormental permits... Needless to say Gulf said see you later.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

In any mining endeavor, a 25 percent swell factor should be considered in turning bank yards into heaped yards. (Surface mining a four or five foot coal seam will still leave the ground higher, not lower.) Another way to see this is to dig a hole in your back yard, even taking out the rocks you find, then try to get all the dirt back in the same hole--it won't fit.
I recall the swelling from Exxon's (and maybe Gulf's too) irradiation was in additional to the usual swell factor. The public relations implications were enormous.