Opinion ID: 583483
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Debtor in Possession

Text: 6 On February 6, 1987, N.P. filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 in the bankruptcy court in Birmingham. N.P.'s management continued to operate the company as a debtor in possession, and the mining operations continued. At a certain point, N.P. was no longer able to harvest coal of a quality high enough to meet its contractual obligations to supply coal to the Scott Paper Company, but it managed to keep the contract alive by brokering another company's coal at a profit. Meanwhile, N.P. brought an adversary proceeding against the ASMC seeking to stop it from levying fines without the approval of the bankruptcy court. The court never ruled on this claim. 7 According to findings made by the bankruptcy court, 1 during the time that N.P. operated as a debtor in possession, the ASMC assessed the estate $399,700 in fines. Appellees contend that $296,850 of this figure was based on prepetition disturbances to the land, leaving--according to appellees--only $102,850 in penalties attributable to postpetition violations by the debtor in possession. The bankruptcy court, however, did not make a factual finding with regard to these figures, merely noting the contentions made in the affidavit of an N.P. vice president.