HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP COAL REFUSE FIRE WILL NOT GO OUT

A Hempfield property owner is trying to determine the next steps for his property after a coal refuse fire that is slow burning will not go out.  The Trib reports that the fire was reported in March after a lightning strike on the property hit the coal refuse pile on a property overlooking Brush Creek.  Local agencies have not been able to put the fire out, and the work has been left to the state Department of Environmental Protection, but the DEP and the property owner William Shay, are in active litigation.