Thick smoke from a burning coal refuse bank turned a stretch of Route 901 into a near-whiteout Monday morning, prompting Mount Carmel Township officials to declare a local disaster emergency after residents reported trouble breathing and drivers nearly collided in the haze. The smoke, apparently drifting from the long-smoldering Locust Gap refuse bank fire, combined with fog to choke off visibility just as the morning commute got underway.
Officials declared the emergency Monday morning, according to newsitem.com, after worsening smoke prompted complaints of breathing difficulties among residents and briefly forced the closure of Route 901. Township Police and Fire Chief Brian Hollenbush said the smoke and fog created near-whiteout conditions around 6 a.m. between the intersection of Routes 54 and 901 and Locust Summit, with several near-collisions reported before the roadway was shut down. Residents separately reported low visibility near the Mount Carmel school and the Route 901 intersection.
Route 901 was closed between Boylans intersection and Locust Summit as crews worked to keep traffic out of the worst of the smoke. Some residents questioned on social media why the road was reopened while smoke and fog continued to affect visibility, though it's unclear how officials responded to those concerns. Mount Carmel Township is asking anyone who needs emergency assistance to call 911.
Why the Refuse Bank Keeps Burning
Mount Carmel Township sits in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in a region dotted with old coal workings. The fire burning at Locust Gap appears to be smoldering in coal mine waste rather than at an active mine, and it's the kind of hazard that can linger for a long time: a refuse bank is simply a pile of leftover waste from coal mining and processing, and that waste can still contain coal capable of catching fire and smoldering for extended periods.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a project underway to extinguish the Locust Gap refuse bank fire, with work spanning both Mount Carmel Township and Butler Township across Northumberland and Schuylkill counties. A state permit authorizes water use of up to 720,000 gallons a day for the firefighting effort, underscoring the scale of the task crews are up against. The Federal Register separately references a general-permit approval tied to the Locust Gap Refuse Bank Fire through the state's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
A Declaration Meant to Push for Faster Action
The emergency declaration follows an earlier move by the township's supervisors, who unanimously approved a declaration designating the Locust Gap mine fire site as an area of concern, according to the Standard-Journal. That earlier declaration was intended to communicate residents' concerns to the agencies involved in the response and to encourage continued efforts to bring the fire under control, the paper reported.
Under Pennsylvania law, a local governing body may declare a disaster emergency once it finds that a disaster has occurred or is imminent, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Such a declaration activates the response and recovery provisions of local emergency-management plans and authorizes aid and assistance, though it generally cannot continue beyond seven days without further consent from the governing body.
Locust Gap Response
The yahoo.com news report notes the fire burns just west of Marshall Street in the Locust Gap section of Mount Carmel Township and has been smoldering for months already. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is involved in the Locust Gap response.
