How WV Rivers Used To Be

West Virginia is full of streams, creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. A good majority of the state population lives in proximity to a body of water, including most children in my hometown. Memories of events like playing a game in the creek behind a friends house or swimming in the river at my grandmothers are scattered throughout my past. The coal industry already affected much of southern WV, and destroyed many environments including mountaintops and the streams below. Now throughout the central & western West Virginia, the natural gas industry has exploded. Much of this industry produces silty streams which affects the overall ecology. The same river at my grandmothers is so unhealthy the younger generations don't have the same opportunities I had to experience it.