$75 million lawsuit is filed in collapse of Black Hawk mine

Negligence...

That's what attorney John M. Fitzgerald is claiming in a $75,000,000 lawsuit.

The 32-page suit,. filed on behalf of the people living in Black Hawk's Hideaway Hills subdivision, is going after Meade County, the developers, and more.

"Their negligence in the designing of the subdivision, in the building of the homes, the engineering of the subdivision, the county allowing it to happen, the lawyers that had any hand in it," said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald is even planning to include the State of South Dakota for the failure to reclaim the mine.

"There's a hundred and nineteen clients and the last time we checked there's forty defendants and the main counts are negligence," said Fitzgerald.

But with the number of people, businesses, and government agencies involved, Fitzgerald says this case could take years.

"There's so much liability and there's so much damages, there could be people who want to get out of it quickly. There's also people who could want to fight it because you're talking about millions and millions of dollars in damages," said Fitzgerald.

Damages that according to the lawsuit may have been caused by building a subdivision over a gypsum mine and a sewage lagoon.

"We have run into clients who live on those cul de sacs that have experienced health problems," said Fitzgerald. "One gentleman takes more than twenty medications for his health problem and his doctors can't seem to find out what's wrong with him."

The lawsuit claims building the homes "is an extreme risk to the health and safety of the residents of Meade County and constitutes willful or wanton misconduct."

The lawsuit is being re-filed on Wednesday, adding more plaintiffs and more defendants.

This is an ongoing story and we'll keep you updated as it develops.