Homes over abandoned mines ABC probes hidden risks

Oct 6

Jay O'Brien investigates Daisy Drive in Hideaway Hills, South Dakota, where a 30-foot sinkhole revealed century-old mine shafts and 13 families were forced from their homes. Homeowners say they did not know a mine lay beneath them. Marshall Dalton says the dream became a nightmare; ABC reports his insurance did not cover the loss and he still pays a mortgage six years later. ABC's national investigation finds abandoned mines with inaccessible public records and limited homeowner protection. Interior official Lanny Erdos says some mines are unknown until they fail and concern is justified. O'Brien contrasts some uncertain federal help for coal mines with little or none for other mines, including the South Dakota gypsum mine, and announces ABC's public map assembled from government records. Allison Ireland describes her empty family home. The closing reports homeowners suing South Dakota, the state's denial of continuing responsibility after filling parts and selling the land, and the state's victory in the legal battle. No new collapse or newly dated judgment is asserted.

ABC publishes an abandoned-mine investigation and public map assembled from government records. The televised account uses displaced Hideaway Hills homeowners to examine inaccessible records and limited protection, and interviews Interior official Lanny Erdos, who acknowledges some mines are unknown until they fail. ABC reports some uncertain aid for coal-mine collapses and little or none for other mines such as gypsum. The mapped records represent mines ABC could find, not a guaranteed complete inventory.