Kansas Town Threatened by 'Creeping Catastrophe'

In Galena, Kansas mines may be swallowing the town...one bit at a time.

Mines Crumble Under Kansas Town

GALENA, Kan. (AP) -- Some mine disasters happen in a flash, like the Utah cave-in last month that apparently entombed six coal miners. Others unfold in slow motion.

That's the case in Galena, where hundreds of now-abandoned lead and zinc mines dug underneath the small town by prospectors in the late 19th century are threatening to swallow much of the aging brick downtown area, including banks, offices, stores, houses, even City Hall.

The sedimentary rock that forms the ceilings of the old mine tunnels is falling into the empty spaces underground, one layer at a time. With each fallen layer, the tunnel moves closer to the surface.

"It's a very slow, creeping catastrophe that's happening," Mayor Dale Oglesby said.

Read Full Story: Source: AP