Montana Tech will study ground at collapsed mine

BLACK HAWK, S.D. (AP) — Experts from Montana Technological University will soon begin to analyze what lies underground in Black Hawk neighborhood where homes have been evacuated because ground over an abandoned mine collapsed.

A law firm representing some of the residents of Hideaway Hills recently announced another possible mine has been discovered besides a surface mine and the collapsed mine.

“This concept of this new third mine we find very alarming, very concerning that this is a possibility, and we’re quite satisfied that the community’s come together and so have the various law firms have come together Fox Rothschild, Fitzgerald, and Beardsy Law Firm to agree that we need to have more study to figure this out,” says Patrick Ealy with Fitzgerald Law Firm.

So next month, Montana Tech experts will search for answers, KOTA-TV reported.

“It’s like a ticking time bomb almost, you really don’t know like when the ground’s going to collapse or where it might or whose going to be there,” neighbor Heather Kusick said.

At least 30 people who lost their homes when the ground collapsed and exposed the 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.