Air quality in the Coal Region: our project in the news, and the Locust Gap fire
Bucknell News published a story this week on the air quality project I’ve been working on with Doug Collins (Chemistry), Dabrina Dutcher (Chemical Engineering and Chemistry) and Shaunna Barnhart (Place Studies Program, Ecology Center): Bucknell Research Team Tackles Air Quality in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region (November 5, 2026).
The project is funded by a two-year, $250,000 grant through the EPA Region 3 Thriving Communities Grantmaking program, which the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative runs for the EPA. We have low-cost air quality sensors at nine sites across Mount Carmel, Kulpmont and Shamokin, and about 15 students have contributed so far. My part is the data side: getting sensor readings into a usable form and making sure they meet the project’s EPA-approved quality assurance plan.
The sensors are only part of the work. The team has also been holding workshops for the community, to help residents understand air quality, learn how it is measured, and, most importantly, know how to take action when conditions get out of hand.
I want to point out one student in particular. Samuel Tuffour ’28, a computer science student, leads development of the server-side data pipeline that collects and processes the sensor data, built on AWS with support from Bucknell IT. He joined the project as the only non-senior on last spring’s computer science senior design team and has stayed with it since. Sam and I are now working together on two ways to use that data: a research dashboard for the research community, and a public website where residents can follow air quality in their own towns. He has been a pleasure to work with, and he is a good example of what students can contribute when they take on a real research project.
The Locust Gap fire
The story comes out at a time when air quality in the area is very much on people’s minds. A coal refuse bank fire has been burning in Locust Gap, about two miles south of Mount Carmel, since the spring. On October 26, smoke combined with morning fog closed part of Route 901, and Mount Carmel Township declared a disaster emergency that will stay in place until the fire is out. The Pennsylvania DEP says its spot-check monitoring shows no current air quality risk to residents, and it is adding monitors with the EPA.
- FOX56: Mount Carmel Township declares emergency over mine fire smoke (October 26, 2026)
- Republican & Herald (Pottsville), via Fire Engineering: PA Coal Refuse Fire Persists; State Officials Say Air Quality Is Safe (October 29, 2026)
A situation like this is exactly why it matters that residents can see and understand the air they breathe.
A side note on history: the region has a long history of mine fires that burn out of control for years. The best-known is nearby Centralia, where the Centralia mine fire has been burning underground since 1962. It could never be put out, most residents were relocated, and the town is now nearly a ghost town. The fire is still burning today.