"LAKE WYLIE, N.C. -- For more than a year, one Charlotte environmental group has warned of what could happen if coal ash ponds leak into local lakes. Now, they say, it’s happening."

"The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation on Thursday informed state and federal environmental regulators they’d discovered four seepage points, one into Lake Wylie and three into Mountain Island Lake. Along with recreational uses, Lake Wylie provides drinking water for York County and Belmont. Mountain Island Lake provides drinking water for Mecklenburg County.

'These leaks from the ash ponds are unpermitted, unhealthy and illegal,' Riverkeeper Rick Gaskins said. 'They are of particular concern because the leaks discharge into drinking water reservoirs and because (Duke Energy) does not test the leaking material for hazardous constituents.'"

John Marks reports for the Charlotte Observer November 14,2012. [2]