I discussed that issue with Keith. He is very adamant about not buying into 'losing ventures', and clears EVERYTHING with the state, before even taking on any of these leases. He makes SURE there are clear understandings...FIRST, as to what is expected of Hemi, and makes his decisions from there.
I talked to Keith a while back about enviornmental issues too. He confirmed what you said but also told me that if they have a lease under contract that could have a potential issue they either resolve it before they sign the lease or they just don't lease it. They get to pick and choose so they don't have problems. This is the reason that out of the 105 leases they had under contract in a past press release, they only took 45 of them. (I'm doing these numbers from memory but you get the idea)