Underground coal mine fire finally contained
OLYPHANT, Pa. - Officials say a coal mine fire that has been burning underground since 2004 in Lackawanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania is now contained.
A trench that surrounds the Dolph Colliery mine fire in Olyphant was finished a few weeks ago. The trench is intended to isolate the flames and keep them from spreading. Some say that it will take 20 to 30 years for the fire to burn itself out. Mining officials say the fire goes down 165 feet in some spots.
The project has cost $11 million, and Mick Kuhns of the U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining said it would cost many millions more to fully extinguish the fire.
- AP