i believe there was a lengthy study done by the u s office of surface mining reclamation enforcement pittsburgh office and the state of pennsylvania in the early s which determined extinguishing the fires was probably not technically feasible and it would cost more to try and extinguish the fires than it would to purchase all properties in the town hence congressional relocation funding so the bottom line was money and questionnable technical feasibility the study is probably cited in the hearings for the funding legislation keep in mind there are hundreds of miles of old underground mines under centralia too deep to strip mine from the surface too many surface openings to plug and the smoke and steam are lethal to humans and other living things that's why people needed to be relocated living in centralia is hazardous to one's health and when coal is burned it loses of its mass so the ground above often subsides opening new pathways for air to enter and fuel the fires there have long been reports of more people living there than should be possibly including some who were paid to leave most of them are probably related to folks in the old cemetaries who don't know and can't imagine any other home