In a video that property owner J.A. Byerly recorded shortly after arriving at his flooded Red Lodge house, he descends the basement stairs of his property and steps down into a layer of water.
Originally from Montana, Byerly lives in Atlanta and is a film electrician whose credits on IMDB include the TV series “Dynasty” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Lily Gladstone of Montana and the Blackfeet Nation.
Byerly uses his Red Lodge property as a vacation home and otherwise rents it out. He says someone staying over the fourth of July holiday discovered the flooding, and he came to survey the damage.
“We were very stunned,” Byerly said. “Everyone was stunned.”
He estimates more than 3 million gallons of water has flowed through his basement.
Red Lodge Mayor Dave Westwood said the flooding led back to the nearby Sunset Mine, a nearby abandoned coal mine that shuttered in 1932.
“They determined that there was a drain that looked like it’d collapsed,” Westwood said.
The government and taxpayers are responsible for old coal mines left behind many years ago before regulatory oversight. The U.S. Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund uses coal fees to help fund efforts to cleanup and reclaim lands and provides grants to states for that purpose.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s abandoned mines program is handling the response for the flooded Red Lodge mine in coordination with the city.
“This isn't a situation we've ever seen or dealt with before,” said Jorri Dyer with the DEQ’s abandoned mines program.
Doyer said they discovered a broken drain in the original system that directs water from the mine into the city’s stormwater system. They took steps to remove the immediate threat from water pressure, but the agency still has to assess the problem and find a permanent fix.
“What we do know is the flood water’s pH was neutral. We’ve not detected any threat to human health from it,” Dyer said. “But, again, our main concern is relieving that pressure and then reestablishing a long term, sustainable solution for dewatering to prevent it in the future.”
The DEQ says it’s monitoring water pressure, which it’s concerned could build up behind the mine’s bulkhead, a kind of dam that keeps liquid waste at bay.
Byerly says the basement has since been drained and private insurance won’t cover the damage. He says it’s been indicated that in addition to cleanup, the state’s abandoned mines program could cover those costs.
