"Abandoned coal mines had left waterways acidic and rusty orange. Local residents are cleaning them up, and recovering rare earths in the process." 

"Set on a quiet hillside in West Virginia, a series of cascading ponds are doing their small part to fix a big problem.

Water saturated with heavy metals and as corrosive as stomach acid, the result of decades of coal mining, flows into the ponds.

As the water percolates through limestone and organic matter, its acidity declines.

As that happens, heavy metals drop out — first aluminum, then iron.

Clean water flows out of the ponds and into the creek below."

Mira Rojanasakul reports for the New York Times June 25, 2025, with photography and video by Kristian Thacker. [2]