I've heard that the Big outfit operating the pit across the street offered them a lot more money to lease the pit just after they signed the lease with PBLS. He's been trying to get out of the lease with PBLS ever since. That's just the story I've heard over the years.
It could be that the High Silica Sand found in the Pit is one of the components of Clean Coal 'Floating Bed' Technology recently Approved by the DOE. And is in fact the component that captures CO2.