Go on YouTube and see the three videos by Andy Ostrowski. Lots of lawyer speak, as he is a lawyer. But, he lays out why Centralia had to be abandoned and how Blaschak profited. Collusion between Blaschak's attorneys and the state and feds. The coal under Centralia belongs to the town. Nothing will become of this, but Blaschak really made out at the expense of the people of Centralia. The original fire was in the Buck Mountain vein, which was about five feet thick. The Mammoth vein can be over 50 feet thick and as Ostrowski said, it is 97-98% pure carbon, the densest anywhere.
Okay, Jack, what is your take on this?
Bill
Centralia and Blaschak Coal
- lsayre
- Member
- Posts: 21781
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
For those of us who are 350 miles away, what's the legal story involved here? What's the nature of the highly profitable collusion?
-
- Member
- Posts: 205
- Joined: Fri. Sep. 08, 2017 12:54 pm
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vigilant II 2310
- Baseburners & Antiques: Grodin Petite
- Other Heating: electric radiators until used boiler hook up
Mountains of information available to read along with television documentaries. Visited Centralia several years ago and the smell of "brimstone" along with the sinkholes made a frightening area, soon to be a true ghost town. It is common practice for coal companies to work with DEP to re-mediate blighted mining sites, nothing new and a win win for all. Coal companies receive mineral rights in exchange for clean up.
-
- Member
- Posts: 854
- Joined: Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 4:07 pm
- Location: Berks County
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1400 WH ciculator; 1880's small cannon in reserve
- Coal Size/Type: Nut
- Other Heating: small New Yorker oil fired boiler; mostly used for domestic HW
Centralia must be down to just a few residents by now. The last time or two that I passed through there, probably last year, I didn't notice the Sulphur smell anymore. I think they had cracked down on the people walking around on the "graffiti" part of what had been rt. 61. I passed through there multiple times a year for about 50 years heading to a hunting camp I belonged to in Sullivan county, Pa. I always remember the "Speed Stop" speed shop on the north end of town, before the people were evicted.
A guy that I had known long ago , about '80-'81, was originally from Centralia. He claimed that there was a whole lot of coal left under and around that town. I suppose that's the case in a number of areas. I had always heard that about the Bernice area of Sullivan county. I guess that when they lost their powerplant customer for the semi-anthracite no one could make it work.
A guy that I had known long ago , about '80-'81, was originally from Centralia. He claimed that there was a whole lot of coal left under and around that town. I suppose that's the case in a number of areas. I had always heard that about the Bernice area of Sullivan county. I guess that when they lost their powerplant customer for the semi-anthracite no one could make it work.