Application to Phosphate Mining in the Osceola National Forest, Bureau of Land Management. The study concluded that no new technology had been developed since the 1979 Supplemental ES and that technology capabilities were insufficient to ensure a reasonable likelihood of the successful reclamation of mined areas consistent with the requirements established for mining in Osceola. As to the Brewster sand-spray process, the team found that it still had not achieved the homogeneous mix of sand and clay, a noted deficiency in the 1981 Forest Service Report, and that on basis of available information, it was impossible to project to the Forest results from tests of sand/clay mix techniques.
The interdepartmental team report was then transmitted to the Interior Secretary with the recommendation that all pending lease applications in Osceolarecord, do not support the plaintiffs' claims.
In the more than 12-year lapse of time when plaintiffs first filed their lease applications to January 1983, there were unresolved disputes about relevant and basic technical issues necessary to a final decision. Disputes were found within the units of the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, the agencies which had the responsibility of helping to decide the question as to whether phosphate strip mining could be consistent with the primary purposes behind the acquisition and development of the Forest, and equally importantwhether technologies were developed and available which would allow restoration of the land. The disputes were found principally between those agencies responsible for mineral exploitation and developmentthe Geological Survey Service and Minerals Management Service and those responsible for resource management protectionthe