Appeals court upholds Centralia injunction denial

Appeals court upholds Centralia injunction denial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected residents’ request to stop the government from seizing property in a mostly abandoned Pennsylvania town that’s had a mine fire burning underneath it for more than 50 years.

A small group of Centralia residents are fighting eminent domain seizures of their properties. The coal region town has been mostly deserted since a fire spread to a coal seam in the ground beneath it, burning out of control ever since.

Eight residents had their injunction request denied in March of last year. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision Tuesday.

The panel says the residents waited too long to make their request and they won’t be irreparably harmed because they can receive compensation for the properties.