“The bottom of the creek is covered in a 15- to 20-foot layer of a material we refer to as ‘Black Mayonnaise,’” explains our guide, Mitch Waxman. “It has the consistency of mayo, it smells of petroleum, and it’s a composite of 150 years of industrial waste, human excrement, petroleum residue and coal tar.”

You could call this “The Un-beach.”

For PRI’s The World [a co-production of the BBC]

 

[For a complete archive of my stories for PRI’s The World, click here.]