LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Newswatch 16 was in Glen Lyon back in 1983, while the low-income housing was being built in that part of Newport Township, and a sinkhole opened up thanks to a mine subsidence in the #6 Shaft in Glen Lyon Colliery.
Now, 40 years later, it's happened again. Again, behind one of the buildings in the development.
This comes as no surprise for folks at the Luzerne County Historical Society.
"Everything is cyclical, and in a big way, that is one of the many legacies of our area," said Mark Riccetti Jr., the director of operations and programming at the historical society. He says the mine responsible for this subsidence was opened in 1883.
"So it's, you know, one of the older mines in the area, and like a lot of its contemporaries, it was not immune to accidents, even when it was active," he explained.
Riccetti showed Newswatch 16 a timeline of this mine, highlighting the times fires broke out or when it flooded.
It was closed on September 1st, 1958.
"All these scars on the surface, most of which we've healed underneath, there's still quite a bit," he added.
Looking back, many may think it's not a good idea to build on top of or so close to old mines, but it's something that folks were used to when the coal mines were active.
"We have different oral histories from different areas. You'd be in your house, and stuff would vibrate because they were blasting, and under you, like your glasses and stuff, would vibrate like in Jurassic Park. Because they were doing dynamiting under you," Riccetti said.
Riccetti says the most recent subsidence does not surprise him. He says he's more surprised no one was hurt because inside this library, he can show us article after article of times when something like this happened, and the outcome was much more grim.
"It's a fascinating history, but it's depressing in a lot of ways."