High Levels of Arsenic Found in Charlotte’s Primary Water Supply

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Mountain Island Lake water testing has just confirmed an abnormally high levels of arsenic near Charlotte’s main water supply.

According to officials with the Land Use and Environmental Services Agency, the June 20th water tests in Mountain Island Lake showed the highest levels of arsenic that have ever been seen. The Lake provides drinking water for over one million Charlotte residents.

This video was just released by WSOC Channel 9, detailing the problem;

The arsenic levels from the June 20th test showed 95 ppb – nine times the legal limit set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The county retested the water near Riverbend last week and found that the arsenic levels have now dropped below the standard.

arsenic found in charlotte drinking waterMecklenburg County water officials traced the toxins back to Duke Energy’s coal ash pits. The company has started to take steps to drain the coal ash pond at the Riverbend Steam Station, which has been discharging directly into Mountain Island Lake.

Duke Energy have repeatedly stated that the arsenic from the coal ash ponds would not impact Charlotte’s drinking water. They’re now also in the process of building a new treatment system to help solve the immediate problem from the coal ash ponds – the system is expected to be complete by this September.

A team from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality will visit the lake this coming Thursday to re-sample the water to test for any dangerous levels of arsenic.

Mecklenburg County officials have stated that there is currently no threat to Charlotte’s drinking water since the arsenic level near Charlotte’s water intake is below the federal limits.

Ever since the Duke Energy coal ash ponds began to leak in 2014, many Charlotte residents have been installing reverse-osmosis water filters and buying drinking water from local stores.

If you’d like to double check that you’re water hasn’t been tainted, they now sell at-home testing kits for arsenic and other toxins.

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