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View of Centralia from
Near the Wind Mills
Windmill near Centralia
Court denies Centralia
property owners looking to keep their homes
Published: Thursday, February 23, 2012, 3:54 PM Updated:
Thursday, February 23, 2012, 4:02 PM
By
JOHN BEAUGE, The Patriot-News
Commonwealth Court has denied another attempt by remaining
property owners in Centralia to keep their land.
Seven people, including
Borough Council President Stephen Hynoski, claimed
condemnation no longer is needed because the underground
coal fire has moved and air quality in the Columbia County
borough is the same as Lancaster.
View full sizeAP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, fileAn old sign
reading "Keep Centralia On The Map" in the entrance of the
closed Centralia Municipal Building in Centralia, Pa.
Most homes in Centralia were demolished in the 1980s as an
underground fire that began in 1962 threatened residents
with poison gases and dangerous sinkholes.
Nothing authorizes the property owners to request to open or
set aside a declaration of taking because the public purpose
for the condemnation no longer exists, the court ruled.
The decision affirms a September 2010 Columbia County court
verdict setting fair value for the properties the
commonwealth began condemning in 1993 due to dangers
associated with the mine fire that started in 1962.
The same individuals have a suit pending in U.S. Middle
District Court that alleges the condemnation was part of the
commonwealth’s plot to obtain mineral rights to the
anthracite coal they claim are worth hundreds of millions of
dollars. U.S. Judge Christopher C. Conner last March refused
to issue an injunction that would have stopped the
condemnation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pa. Coal Town Above
Mine Fire Claims
Massive Fraud
Associated Press Writer Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press Writer – Tue
Mar 9, 5:54 pm ET
ALLENTOWN, Pa. –
Centralians have
long believed the
government's
demolition of their
beloved town in the
1980s was part of a
plot to swipe the
mineral rights to
anthracite coal
worth hundreds of
millions of dollars
— and not, as state
and federal
officials said, the
solution to an
out-of-control
underground mine
fire that menaced
the town with toxic
gases.
Now, in a last-ditch
effort to save their
homes from the
wrecking ball, the
few holdouts who
remain in the
Pennsylvania town
are taking their
claims of a
conspiracy to court.
In a filing late
Monday, four
property owners and
the borough of
Centralia said a
"massive fraud"
forced the needless
relocation of more
than 1,000 residents
and the destruction
of more than 500
homes. The property
owners asked a state
appeals court to
stop Pennsylvania
officials from
kicking them out and
finishing off the
town 100 miles
northwest of
Philadelphia.
"Nobody wants a
penny. They just
want to be left
alone," said Tom
Hynoski, a Centralia
native whose mother
and sister are among
the petitioners.
The state condemned
the homes in the
early 1990s but only
recently moved to
oust those who
remain. The state's
attorney on Tuesday
ridiculed the
residents' claims as
"conspiracy
theories" and
predicted they would
be dismissed.
Centralia was all
but wiped off the
map as the
slow-burning mine
fire that began in
1962 at the town
dump spread to the
network of mines
beneath the town,
threatening
residents with
poisonous gases and
dangerous sinkholes.
A $42 million
government
relocation program
was largely
completed by 1993,
when officials
invoked eminent
domain to get dozens
of holdouts to
leave.
The property owners
said in court
documents they have
evidence that the
fire is "almost out"
and no longer
endangers their
homes, if it ever
did. Data kept by
the Department of
Environmental
Protection show that
underground
temperatures have
gone down by
"several hundred
percent" since
measurements began.
Further, a 2008 DEP
study found that
emissions of toxic
gases are not a
problem, according
to court documents.
"There is no mine
fire or other
related condition
that justifies the
taking of their
property," the
petition said.
State environmental
officials, though,
insist the fire
remains a threat to
the residents'
health. The blaze
has likely followed
the coal seam deeper
underground —
reducing
temperatures in
certain monitoring
bore holes — but
gases from the fire
can still accumulate
in houses atop the
fire, they say.
Property owners also
claim in court
documents that their
town was ruined "in
the face of evidence
that suggests that a
massive fraud may
have been
perpetrated" by
parties "motivated
primarily by
interests in what is
conservatively
estimated at
hundreds of millions
of dollars of some
of the best
anthracite coal in
the world."
Their attorney,
Andrew Ostrowski,
said Tuesday that
the borough owns the
mineral rights. Once
Centralia ceases to
exist, the rights go
to the state, which
could sell them to a
coal company to
operate "one of the
most productive
strip mine
operations in the
country," he said.
Steve Fishman,
in-house counsel for
the state Department
of Community and
Economic
Development, the
agency carrying out
eminent domain,
disputed that
Centralia owns the
coal underneath the
town, saying that
it's not clear who
possesses the
mineral rights but
that he knows of no
legal document
giving the borough
an ownership stake.
He predicted
Commonwealth Court
would toss the
residents' petition,
noting it raises
claims nearly 20
years after the
fact.
"I've never doubted
they would try this,
since their pattern
has always been
simply to delay,
hoping that at some
point we'll simply
go away," Fishman
said.
As far as the fire,
he said, "I don't
think there's anyone
who seriously
believes that the
fire is out, and
that it does not
pose a threat."
Another attorney for
the Centralians, Don
Bailey, a former
congressman and
state auditor
general, is working
on a separate
federal civil rights
lawsuit in hopes of
recovering "seed
money" to rebuild
the borough,
Ostrowski said.
One key issue raised
in the Commonwealth
Court petition, and
likely to be raised
in the federal suit,
is a 2006 agreement
between the
Department of
Community and
Economic Development
and Centralia
homeowners Robert
and Mary Netchel
that allowed the
Netchels to keep
their home.
In December,
Ostrowski sent a
letter to John
Zelinka, an attorney
working on behalf of
the economic
development
department, seeking
the same deal for
his clients. He said
Zelinka never
responded.
Fishman, the
department counsel,
said the Netchels
were permitted to
hang on to their
house because it was
on the fringes of
the fire impact
zone, and not in any
danger.
But Hynoski produced
a map that places
the Netchel house
squarely in the
middle of the
eminent domain zone,
with many houses
knocked down on
either side of it.
"We just want to be
treated the same way
the Netchels were,"
said Hynoski, who
hopes to attract
civil rights groups
to his cause. "It is
clear violation of
the 14th Amendment,
equal protection.
The government
cannot do for one
person and not do
for another person
in the same
circumstance."
He said none of the
people who still
live in Centralia
have ever gotten
sick from the fire.
Associated Press Article
Press enterprise article
on Feb 9th
Last Centralians bound for court
Holdouts don't wish to haggle over buyout deals,
they want to stay in homes, lawyer says
By LEON BOGDAN
Press Enterprise Writer
BLOOMSBURG – The last Centralians are headed to
trial here next month to settle disputed buyout offers
as the state again tries to finish home condemnations
that began 17 years ago.
But the handful of residents left will not be
leaving anytime soon, and they believe the argument is
about much more than property values, says a Harrisburg
lawyer.
Attorney Andrew Ostrowski contends conditions in
Centralia have "greatly" changed, and scientific proof
shows the mine fire burning underground is either waning
or clearly poses no threat.
He won't be able to present any of those
purported findings to a jury, though, because the cases
will focus strictly on what the few remaining homes and
lots are worth.
Still, Ostrowski hopes to "find a court
somewhere" where he can challenge the safety and health
dangers he and residents believe no longer exist.
"We're not interested in talking about a couple
thousand here, a couple thousand there. The people are
not leaving," Ostrowski said Monday.
"Value is not our issue. Our issues are the
fire, the homes, the people whose lives are being
disrupted and wanting to stay where they were born and
raised."
'Unwilling evictees'
Residents whose properties remain at issue:
• Stephen and Bonnie Hynoski, who own four
parcels on Meyers Street, including a two-and-a-half
story home, a mobile home and a vacant lot.
• Helen Hynoski, a widow, along with single
family members Walter and Christine Hynoski, a home on
East Center Street.
• Carl Womer and the late Helen Womer, a home on
Wood Street.
• Lamar Mervine Jr. and Lana Mervine, the former
mayor of Centralia whose estate on Troutwine Street is
being handled by a son, Harold.
Court papers filed by Ostrowski refer to these
families as "unwilling evictees" who remain "unwilling
to compromise their interest in their land."
Eminent domain proceedings declared by the state
in 1993 turned a decade-long voluntary relocation effort
into a mandatory seizure of homes.
But Ostrowski argues the mine fires "no longer
provide justification" for such government action, and
issues that led to formal condemnations 17 years ago
must be looked at again.
"Our bottom line is nobody is leaving
voluntarily," Ostrowski said.
County agency out
While the $42 million relocation was initially
handled by the Columbia County Redevelopment Authority,
it was removed as the lead agency as buyouts wound down
several years ago.
Today, the Centralia project is under the realm
of the Department of Community and Economic Development.
In 2008, it reached several settlements: $95,000 to the
Comarinsky estate for a home on Troutwine Street; and
$70,900 to Helen Tanis for her home on West Center
Street.
Both deals included $22,500 payments for
relocation expenses.
Jury selection in the outstanding cases is set
to start March 16.
Leon Bogdan covers courts and police and can be
reached at 784-2121, extension 1307, or by e-mailing him
at
leon.b@pressenterprise.net
JANUARY 2010 PHOTOS
DAMAGED CEMETERY
updated
02/06/10
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History of Centralia And Conygham Township:
Centralia:
Centralia was first known as the "Bull's Head", and
the first house in the town on the Catawissa road was built in
1841 by Jonathan Faust, and called the "'Bull's Head
Tavern". This Hotel subsequently passed into the hands of
Reuben Wasser, but retained it's former name throughout it's
natural life. It was a stopping place for travelers, and for
about 12 years comprised all of Centralia that then existed.
Jonathan Faust did not own the land on which the house was
built; he did not even buy the lumber but appropriated it
without compunction, and his right of possession was never
disputed.
The "Bull's Head Tavern" was originally a log house
and in 1916 it was razed to make way for a store. Patrick
Dempsey, a contractor, erected the property which was used as
a fruit and seed store and a residence. Mr. William Weidensaul
conducted the tavern as a saloon till 1867. He was follwed by
James Goldsworthy, and later it became the property of Mr.
Andrew Zimbo.
In 1860 Jonathan Hoagland opened the first store opposite the
"Bull's Head Tavern". two years later he was
appointed postmaster. for a few years the village had been
know as centerville, but as an office of that name already
existed in the State, at the insistence of the postal
authorities, Centralia was suggested by Mr. Rae.
In 1865, the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad Company, later known
as the Lehigh Valley, Built a line through the town on what is
appropriately known as Railroad St. A freight and passenger
station was then built on the Western extremity of Railroad
Street. With this new entrance into the town several new
collieries were opened and the town began to grow in size,
population and wealth.
Increasing lawlessness caused an application to be made for
incorporation, and at the February session of Columbia County
Court, Bloomsburg, in 1866, the Borough of Centralia was
formally chartered. James Dyke was
elected first mayor, or chief Burgess as it was then called.
Conynghm Township:
Conyngham was the seventh and last
township formed out of the original territory of Catawissa.
After being embraced successively in Roaring Creek and Locust,
the extreme southern part of the county, at the February
court, 1856, was erected into the township of Conyngham. It
was named in honor of the president judge, Honorable John
Nesbitt Conyngham, and by an unforeseen coincidence the
township which perpetuates his name was formed at the last
session in Bloomsburg over which he presided. The propriety of
this tribute in appreciation of his upright character and
unswerving integrity is attested by his eminent ability and
untarnished record as an impartial judge and an honorable man.
Until the year 1830 Conyngham
township, and indeed the western middle coal field, was known
only as a wild, mountainous country, whose fastnesses were the
haunts of the deer, the fox and the catamount. The region was
not, however, entirely unknown. The Sunbury and Reading state
road passed through Ashland, just at the foot of Locust
mountain, and from that point a rough wagon track led over the
mountains northward. About the year 1804 the Red tavern was
built on the top of Locust mountain by John Rhodeburger.
Subsequently, when in 1816 or 1817 the bridle path was so
improved as to be really a good road, there was an almost
ceaseless stream of travel past the Red house. Stage-coaches
dashed down the level grade above, while the echoing horn
intensifies the hurry and confusion of the always noisy tavern
yard. Four hostlers emerged from the stable door, ready to
grasp the bits and undo the fastenings of the coach horses the
moment they were stopped; others brought out the relay that
had been resting, and the coach was ready to renew the journey
before the jaded passengers had scarcely become aware of the
stop. A new driver mounted the box, deftly grasped the reins,
uttered a quiet signal to start or noisily cracked his whip,
and the coach disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Nearly the whole of Conyngham
township was surveyed about the year seventeen hundred and
ninety-three. No one, at that time, would have supposed that
beneath it's rugged surface were the store houses of a vast
mineral wealth. But during the succeeding thirty years rumors
of discoveries of coal and iron began to be circulated and
credited. The confirmation of these reports caused
Con't Here
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Ritamarie Long
