APNewsBreak: Holdouts in Centralia, Pa., claim ‘massive fraud,’ ask court to halt condemnation

APNewsBreak: Pa. coal town claims ‘massive fraud’

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The few remaining residents of a Pennsylvania coal town decimated by a 48-year-old underground mine fire claim in court papers that a “massive fraud” is being perpetrated against Centralia by parties seeking to grab the mineral rights to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coal.

In a filing late Monday, four property owners and the borough asked a state appeals court to block Pennsylvania officials from seizing their homes. The state condemned the homes in the early 1990s but only recently moved to oust the remaining holdouts.

Centralia all but ceased to exist in the 1980s as the mine fire spread underneath homes and businesses. More than 1,000 people moved out.

The holdouts say they have evidence that the fire isn’t a threat and may never have endangered the town.