Majestic Mines

Why in the hell is this water so orange? That is the first question that popped in my head when I went to Majestic Mines. I had never seen anything like it before and it happened to be within ten minutes of where I live. Is this the water that I drink? Does this come out of my shower and sink? Gross.
The area where there would be a beautiful creek flowing naturally is instead covered in a giant pile of sticky, bright orange mud. Any water that does exist here is the same cloudy color as the mud and is completely still and desolate. You can walk right up to the entrance of the abandoned mine but you have to be extremely careful. You might sink into the mud up to your knees if you step on a soft spot. It is best to look for dry paths that have a layer of coal on top. If you make it to the entrance it is a strange sight. The water near the drain is intensely shiny. It looks almost like beads of mercury: interesting, but scary at the same time. When I got to a good spot in the sludge I pulled out my pH papers and tested the waters acidity. The papers generally read about 3 or 4. A normal number is anywhere from 6 ½ to 8 on the scale.
The iron in the coal causes the orange color of the water. The metallic film on top of the water is from all of the metal elements that also come from the mines. Many creeks in this area are filled with harmful elements like manganese, sulfate, aluminum and iron. Brian Blair, a member of the Sunday Creek Watershed Group, said there isn’t much that can be done to reverse the problem. They can add limestone doses to even out the water and they can try to close the holes that feed into the mine, but it is an endless process.
It is hard to think that people live in this area but there was a house just feet away from the mine. They didn’t seem to be worried about us snooping around or the fact that their water could be coming from this orange muck.