Southeast Ohio's Monday Creek, Sunday Creek and Raccoon Creek watersheds are experiencing the lasting effects of pre-law coal mining — that which predates a 1977 law requiring mine owners to reclaim their mines to minimize lasting environmental impacts. The most visible sign of an unreclaimed mine is acid mine drainage, which turns local streams a characteristic orange color and makes the water inhospitable to life. However, remediation efforts have reclaimed streams that even the EPA has declared "dead" — unrecoverable.