Bart Pfankuch-South Dakota News Watch
A group of homeowners whose properties were impacted by a large sinkhole just west of Rapid City have lost a major legal battle now that the South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled against them in their lawsuit against the state.
The court issued a unanimous decision on Thursday in favor of the state, which argued it was not responsible for damages caused by the opening of the large sinkhole above a former underground gypsum mine in April 2020.
Roughly a dozen homes in the Hideaway Hills subdivision in Black Hawk were condemned and still sit vacant in the neighborhood. Those property owners were joined by about 150 other homeowners in Hideaway Hills in filing a $60 million class-action lawsuit against the state.
The plaintiffs had argued the state was responsible for damages because it operated a gypsum mine on the site for more than 60 years before selling it to a private owner in 1994, after which the land was developed into a subdivision. They also said the state used soft materials to close up the mine site and because it retained the underground mineral rights after the sale.
In its ruling the high court affirmed the ruling of a circuit court judge who said the state had sovereign immunity and, therefore, could not be sued by the homeowners.