Eminent Domain in Coal Country Called a Billion-Dollar Land Grab

By ERIN MCAULEY
Courthouse News Service
Nov. 01, 2010

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (CN) - With help from a law office, Pennsylvania and a county redevelopment agency abused their condemnation powers to help a coal company get its hands on billions of dollars worth of coal deposits, the Borough of Centralia and its citizens say in a federal class action. Centralia claims the conspirators used the pretext of an underground fire to make a land grab: a gross abuse of their powers of eminent domain.

"The original government pretense, if indeed it was ever legitimate, has long since expired," the complaint states. "In short, the purported 'Centralia Mine Fire,' which allegedly threatened the Borough of Centralia, no longer provides, or never did provide, a viable explanation for the application of government power (exercise of eminent domain) and the taking of these American citizens' property." (Parentheses in complaint.)

"These defendants covet billions of dollars worth of extremely valuable anthracite coal which lies beneath the surface of the Borough of Centralia. These persons and entities, by and through political connections and the manipulation of governmental agencies and entities, are, among other things, illegally taking the property of the plaintiffs through the unlawful use of government police power."

Read More