Eyewitness News anchor, Brittney Johnson, asked county officials if Duke is responsible for those higher levels.



"The arsenic is originating at the coal ash basins, yes," Environmental Quality Program Director, Rusty Rozzelle, said.



A Duke Energy spokesperson told Channel 9 they regularly monitor the water, and started noticing a rise in arsenic levels in March. They stopped draining the pond once the county alerted them to the high levels in June.



"We continued to operate within the levels of our permit, and as a precautionary measure, we have stopped work at this time," Zenica Chatman said.