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 Post subject: Final Days of Centralia
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:11 pm 
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
Continued from the Olyphant Mine Fire thread:

Isnt snake road just over the ridge south of centralia off of 61?

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:18 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
yes thats where the stripping pit is howie was telling us about. the one they just started up again.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:40 pm 
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yeah thats what I was thinking..

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:33 am 
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Location: On the western Middle Field in Mt. Carmel , Pa
I think were on the same page about the Snake Road it comes out of the back of Mt. Carmel and intersects Rt 61 just before Ashland . There is a new stripping operation on the south side of it, the side that Harmony has its Ventilation fan, located near the cell tower the operator according to the sign is a fella who is a local Const co. owner, land speculator, developer now mine operator . As you travel towards Ashland along the North side or Centralia side there are at least three new access roads cut with gates already installed so far no signs yet . Most pay no attention to it but the recent activity and some idea about the Coal back there makes a guy like me real curious


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:29 am 
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yeah, anthracites is high demand right now for heat, water filtration and steel production so theres a lots of people trying to just on the surface mining aspect of it i guess. Centralia probably just seems an optimal place if they're going to be ripping it all up soon anyway..

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:58 pm 
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Location: On the western Middle Field in Mt. Carmel , Pa
When it comes to Centralia many here would debate the order of importance

    Stop the Fire
    Get the Coal
OR
    Get the Coal
    Maybe stop the Fire while we are There


I'm not disgruntled about the whole thing like some in the area but was just raised around that type of thinking regarding the town .

I actually look forward to them beginning right now a major part of my mining interest is geological, trying to visualize the placement of the coal veins and how they travel thru the field, a strip mine to me is a great cutaway view .


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:56 pm 
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well, really it'll have to be get the coal, stop the fire... because you can't get to the fire without diggin coal! 8) Theres gunna have to be a lot of coal coming out of there all around to put the fire out.

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:58 am 
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Location: Documenting anthracite mining history, one photograph at a time
I still think the whole reason the state forced everyone out was to try to get the coal there...they knew if they could dig for whatever didn't burn, they would be in for a big payday eventually after everyone is gone.

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:47 am 
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I don't know, i think if the state didnt do anything there would have been huge lawsuits.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:38 am 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
here ya go, from a popular site on it, off roaders.com

Centralia - Columbia County, Pennsylvania - The fire was started in a garbage dump over an open coal seam in May of 1962. The fire was reported and seemed to be quenched at the time, but actually continued underground. There are many additional versions of the original cause but the garbage pit and the date are probably right. First bid to extinguish the fire was $175.

In July of 1962, the Department of Environmental Resources started to monitor the fire. Boreholes were drilled to check to extent and the temperature of the fire. Some thought they also provided an natural draft which helped combustion. Gas monitors were also installed in most homes in the area above the hottest fire (the impact area).

On May 22, 1969 the first three families were moved from Centralia. A trench was dug north of the Odd Fellows Cemetery where fly ash and clay seals were used in am attempt to put out the fire. According to Tony Gaughan (quoted in "Slow Burn"), if the trench had been dug in three shifts per day instead of one and if they had worked through the Labor Day holiday, the fire would have been contained. He said the project was $50,000 short of completion.

61-42.jpg (48912 bytes)In 1980, the U.S. Bureau of Mines "Red Book" said, "The Centralia mine fire has not been extinguished and has not been controlled." In the year twenty-seven more families were moved at a price that was comparatively less than later buy-outs.

On February 14, 1981, the ground collapsed under Todd Domboski. A hole about 4 feet in diameter and roughly 150 feet deep had opened under him. He clung to exposed tree roots and was pulled to safety by his cousin. The heat or the carbon monoxide in the breach would have been sufficient to kill him instantly if he had gone just a little deeper. This incident provoked the first national media attention.

By 1983, the government said the fire was advancing on three or four fronts. Proposed trenching of the area might cost as much as $660 million with no guarantee of success. One of the larger trenches would have bisected the town roughly from east to west. A government buy-out was proposed instead of the trenching and there was a referendum held. The homeowners voted to accept the buy-out 345 to 200. Only those whose names were on the deeds could vote. From 1962 to 1984, $7 million had been spent. In November of 1983, $42 million was voted for the buy-out.

Centralia TodayIn 1983, there was fire under about 350 surface acres. By 1991, this area had been increased by about three-quarters. Worst case scenario would be about 3700 acres and possibly a hundred years. Finally 26 homes along Route 61 west of town were bought in April of 1991. There were no further plans to fight the fire. The population of Centralia as of 4/18/97 was 44 people and has dwindled since. There are just a few scattered homes today remaining in the town along with the borough hall. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania owns the remaining homes. The monetary value of each property is in escrow or tied up in the legal system. Until the remaining people move, the future of this town is unknown. The State is being very lenient at this time. The State owns the homes but the remaining people are still paying the property taxes on the houses.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:37 pm 
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Location: On the western Middle Field in Mt. Carmel , Pa
State Senator Edward Helfrick has represented the 27th Senatorial District since 1981.  He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives from the 107th District from 1977-1980.

Following graduation from Mount Carmel High School, Helfrick enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as a paratrooper in the Pacific during World War II with the 11th Airborne Division.  After his honorable discharge, Helfrick developed a successful coal mining business.

Image

Sen. Helfrick & Co. strip mined a mine fire outside of Mt. Carmel between town and what is now the Harmony mine in the very late 60's early 70's at that time his company purchased the Glen Burn to process the Coal, afterward the land laid barren until just recently .

A Mt. Carmel Developer who now operates a recently opened strip mining operation on the Merriam Mtn next to a cell tower site that bears the name Helfrick Tower Site ### always seemed to have a knack for knowing when to speculate on land and put up buildings that amazingly the state of Pa had a need for like several State police Barracks the developer also started a housing development for residents of Centralia that where bought out .

The Helfrick name, family, friends and company comes up almost any time coal land or mineral rights are discussed, it is very very hard to believe that what happened in Centralia did not have political and financial motives behind it and in the end when the digging begins and the coal removed I will bet "Dollars to Donuts" the Helfrick family and friends will be there to secure the next generations wealth .

Eddy Helfrick is truly one of the last great Robber Barons of the Coal Industry .

The above is a very popular take on the situation here in the area sorry if it offends anyone that knows the former Senator or that hard working Developer .


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 4:18 pm 
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Location: Allentown, PA
Not necessarily related to any of the coal, but has anyone else noticed the wind turbines that are going up on the ridge to the north/northeast of Centralia?

It's a pretty attractive site for such things, since there are no property owners to complain about them!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:09 pm 
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Location: From Schuylkill County, PA living in Phoenix, AZ
I drive by them almost everyday going to Bloomsburg. They are supposed to build 51 of them from Aristes to Shenandoah Heights & tie into the ones above Mahanoy City. The project is called "Locust Ridge Phase 2" & will be called the Locust Ridge Wind Farm when completed in December.

With the constant "whoosh, whoosh whoosh" sound they produce, I feel bad for the people who live near them.

M.T.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:13 pm 
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Ah, so they are connected in a way to the ones up by Mahanoy City... I see those often while flying, never saw them from the ground, though.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 11:18 pm 
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Location: From Schuylkill County, PA living in Phoenix, AZ
KillerB wrote:
Ah, so they are connected in a way to the ones up by Mahanoy City... I see those often while flying, never saw them from the ground, though.


They will all be connected when completed in Dec. They are very
impressive from the ground; each windmill is over 300 ft tall!!!

M.T.

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