In March 2002, millions of gallons of water flooded into the underground workings. The 15 people below ground at the time were in another part of the mine and all were evacuated safely. Shortly after the flooding, Scottish Coal (Deep Mine) Limited, went into receivership. It became clear that no new operator would take over the mine, and all the pumps were switched off, allowing further flooding. Without access, the true cause of the flooding could not be conclusively determined by the investigation. It was concluded that one of the dams, or the surrounding strata, had probably failed, but the exact reason was not known. The design margins for the dams appeared to be adequate.
