More lawsuits filed by South Dakotans who lived over abandoned gypsum mine

March 31, 2021

BLACK HAWK, S.D. (AP) — Thirty people who lost their homes when the ground collapsed in a Black Hawk neighborhood and exposed an abandoned mine have now signed on to a lawsuit seeking compensation from the state of South Dakota.

The Hideaway Hills residents say the state mined underneath the entire neighborhood up until 1993 but failed to reclaim or warn buyers about the now-collapsing mine.

The lawsuit says that failure resulted in residents purchasing and living in homes that are both worthless and dangerous.

Initially, about 40 people in 15 homes were forced to evacuate when the ground collapsed in April 2020 revealing a shallow gypsum mine.