By Steve Myers Daily Mail staff Don't fish in the North Fork of the Blackwater River downstream of Thomas. You won't catch anything. Same goes for Greens Run and Muddy Creek, tributaries of the Cheat River.
Worms hanging off hooks have nothing to fear there, either.
There are 481 other waterways in the state damaged by acidic water. During most of the last 100 years of bringing coal out of the state's mountains, caring for the land took a back seat to producing more coal. Since environmental laws were passed in the 1970s to address environmental problems, especially those caused by strip mines, the industry has paid to atone for many of its past sins. Current practices generally aren't as harmful as in the past. But the memories of smoking refuse piles and blackened streams aren't far from people's minds.