Hundreds of South Dakota residents are involved in a lawsuit against the state itself, after sinkholes began opening up near their neighborhood in 2020.
According to Daily Mail, more than 150 individuals have come together in the lawsuit against South Dakota. The residents live in a neighborhood named Hideaway Hills in Black Hawk. The suit claims that the state failed to "properly stabilize a piece of land," which was once a state-operated mine. Moreover, the state is said to have knowingly sold that land, while knowing it sat above the old mine. With such knowledge, the state would have known that despite best efforts of home builders, the soil's ability to support such a large housing division would be, at best, in question.
Apparently, new sinkhole depressions sprout up each day. Notably, if the suit succeeds against the state, South Dakota would owe around $44 million dollars to the homeowners. That total is derived from the value of every affected home in the neighborhood. Of course, the homes have become essentially worthless in the marketplace because of the presence of the sinkholes, so residents are relying upon the suit heavily.
Sinkholes Threaten South Dakota Neighborhood
The affected area's mining history stems back to the 1900s, and the particular site in question was abandoned before 1930. In 1986, a state-owned cement plant mined there for several years. In 1994, that company sold the land to a horse farmer, who then sold it all to a developer. That developer eventually encountered a deep hole, according to a state investigation.
The state has claimed it is not liable for damages to the neighborhood. The state has made the point that their cement mine did not mine underground. Likewise, the state has remained steadfast in its claim that there was no way it could have been known that the developers, homebuilders and county would eventually build on the site, despite knowledge of past mining and underground mines.
In a battle of homeowners and the state government, a continued standoff seems likely. The state maintains that all blame must fall on developers, builders and residents, who acted at their own risk. Today's homeowners obviously disagree, and the collapsed values of their homes make the stakes in this suit exceptionally high.
