Centralia is located in the heart of the Anthracite coal region in central Pennsylvania. Once home to roughly 1,100 residents, the town is now mostly vacant, sitting atop an active mine fire caused in 1962 by a trash fire that ignited a near-surface coal seam. Roughly 300 acres have been consumed. Repeated attempts by the state and federal governments to put out or contain the fire have failed; over $45 million has been spent to acquire and relocate 545 residences and businesses. Today, Centralia resembles a ghost town, its landscape pitted with vent pipes releasing noxious gases, sinkholes, shriveled vegetation and the charred remains of trees.

Against this backdrop, Susquehanna scientists and students have, since 1999, conducted highly successful research through the Summer Research Partners program. The program pairs faculty and students from the sciences for intensive collaboration that has resulted in an abundance of senior thesis projects, national and regional presentations (including NCUR) and professional papers. Our goal is to expand the program to students and faculty from history and communications to produce a wider interdisciplinary examination of the mine fire and its impact on people and the environment.

The objectives of the Centralia project are to: 1) provide students from both science and non-science disciplines with a “living laboratory” for hands-on learning and experimentation; 2) expand on existing research being done on the mine fire to develop a fuller picture of the ecological impact of the disaster; and 3) provide a model of interdisciplinary research for the Susquehanna community to emulate in future collaborations.

Seven NCUR/Lancy Scholars, three from history and communications, and four from the sciences, will work with faculty to study and document the effects of the mine fire. New projects proposed for history and communications include: conducting a history of the health of Centralia residents; producing a film documentary of the mine fire; and examining Centralia against the larger decline of the coal industry in Pennsylvania. Continuing work will include: examining the mine fire’s effects on soil; investigating the influence of the mine fire on thermophilic bacteria; and researching the impact of the mine fire on plants and microorganisms.