Question from curious
We are contemplating purchasing a home and I just found out that the next street over used to be old coal mines a hundred years ago. I believe they refer to them as culm banks. People have been living in the area for hundreds of years, but I was curious if living so close to one of these culm banks would be dangerous to our health, especially our children. The house we are purchasing was NOT built on this, but it was previously just wooded ground. Thanks
Debra’s Answer
I didn’t know what a culm bank was, so I looked it up. It’s a bank of fine-grained anthracite coal produced as a waste byproduct in the mining process. So it’s not a coal mine, it’s a pile of very fine coal. It may have plants growing on it, and look like a natural hill, but it’s a pile of coal underneath.
Now, is it harmful to health to live near one?
Researching the answer to that question, I came across an interesting passage from a book called Environmental Justice by Peter S. Wenz.
He says:
What about the possiblity of fire? I was born in 1962, which is when Centralia, PA had a mine fire start burning. It was mismanaged all along the way, and eventually destroyed the town – it is still burning today, and may eventually threaten the next town also, burning through mountains that were mined years ago. See “the town that was” DVD – and google “Centralia, PA” – Would this be the same thing if it started burning?
Thank you for your reply I appreciate the advice and will get an air quality check. However, maybe I misspoke because there are no hills around the house actually it’s all flat land so maybe the culm banks have been removed for some years but freeware hundred yards over definitely used to be an old coal mine. Do you have any different advice now with this change? I apologize for the miscommunication I am new to all of this coal stuff not being from the area. Thanks so much
COMMENT FROM DEBRA:
If the hills are not actually there, then there would be less of a danger, but see what you can find out locally, from the library maybe or a local chiropractor. The town is living with this. What’s the history of health problems?