More than 150 people are involved in a lawsuit against the State of South Dakota over a series of sinkholes that started opening up in 2020.
The lawsuit, filed by residents of Hideaway Hills, charges that the state acted recklessly when it failed to properly stabilize a piece of land that was once used as a state-operated mine.
They blame the state for selling the land despite knowing it was perched above the old site, knowing the soil’s natural ability to uphold the surface was in question.
Now, more than hundred homes are near the depressions, which continue to sprout up by the day.
If it succeeds, the suit will force officials to pay out the value of every affected a home – a total of approximately $44 million dollars.
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More than 150 people are involved in a lawsuit against the State of South Dakota over a series of sinkholes the state opened up accidentally in 2020
The lawsuit, filed by residents of Hideaway Hills, charges that the state acted recklessly when it failed to properly stabilize a piece of land that had been used as a state-operated mine, seen here
‘They’re worried about school buses falling into a hole,’ Attorney Kathy Barrow said Saturday, more than four years after several of her clients’ homes were evacuated after the first sinkhole collapsed and opened into the abandoned gypsum mine.
‘They worry about their houses collapsing on their children in their beds at night.
‘I mean, you spend your whole life putting money and building equity in your home,’ she continued, as the class action lawsuit continues to grind its way through the state courts.
‘It’s your most prized asset, and these people’s asset had become not only worthless but almost a negative because they’re dangerous to live in.’
Days earlier, a South Dakota judge awarded class certification to the 158 homeowners Barrow is representing – whose homes all became worthless after the sinkhole opened up in the Hideaway Hills section of Black Hawk back in May 2020.
This means any of the homeowners who do not opt out will be represented in court together as a group by Fox Rothschild, the firm filing on behalf of the homeowners.
The area’s mining history stems back to the 1900s, and the site has been abandoned since before 1930.
Beginning in 1986, a state-owned cement plant mined there for several years, and around 1994, a horse farmer bought the land and then later sold the property to a developer who encountered a deep hole, the state found in an investigation.
This photo taken April 27, 2022, shows a sinkhole in the Hideaway Hills neighborhood near Rapid City
The state has since claimed it wasn’t liable for damages – because the cement plant didn’t mine underground and the mine, in their eyes, would have collapsed regardless
The state said it couldn’t have known that developers, homebuilders and the county would eventually develop on the site, despite knowing about the past mining and underground voids.
The land opened up in May when a man was mowing his lawn inn the neighborhood subdivision being affected, prompting residents like Carisa Gerving and Caitlin Samuel to connect with Barrow.
Testing went on to reveal the large, improperly sealed mine previously known to the public, beneath the northeastern part of the subdivision.
Also found was a 40-foot-deep pit mine in another corner of the neighborhood, Barrow said – citing state officials’ failure to flag such developments.
‘To the degree that there was an incorrect or inadequate reclamation – which is certainly one of the things that we’re alleging – it can only be attributed to the state,’ she told Black Hill’s Fox affiliate in June.
Plaintiffs Tonya Junker and Stuart Junker blame the state as well, with Tonya telling the AP how her husband was set to retire this year, but now has to continue work to save money in case they need to be evacuated.
‘That’s a hard pill to swallow,’ she said, citing the ever-present concern cited by several in the suit.
Plaintiffs Stuart and Tonya Junker blame the state as well, with Tonya telling the AP how her husband was set to retire this year, but now has to continue work to save money in case they need to be evacuated
Attorney Kathy Barrow said there are ‘too many’ holes to count as she revealed residents are fearing their houses will collapse on their children in their beds at night
The land opened up in May when a man was mowing his lawn inn the neighborhood subdivision being affected, prompting residents like Carisa Gerving and Caitlin Samuel to connect with Barrow
They have lived there for 15 years, in a home built in 1929, when homes were first started to be built on the subdivision the state is now saying should never have been settled.
They gutted and remodeled the structure and planned to make the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home their base for retirement, but now just want to be paid what his house is worth.
‘It’s just kind of disappointing that the state won’t take care of us,’ Stuart said ahead of trial set for damages next spring
‘I mean, this is their problem.’
The state, however, maintains that it wasn’t the fault of officials, but instead developers and sellers over they years, who they say have wrongly built up the area at their own risk
‘Those truly liable in this case are the developer, the initial realtor, and the numerous homebuilders who knowingly chose to build over an abandoned mine while purposefully hiding its existence from the homebuyers purchasing in Hideaway Hills,’ the state said.
But since that first giant collapse, holes continue to surface.
As of writing, there are still ‘too many to count,’ Barrow said.