Image by Flickr user xjyxjy Image by 20091005-coal.jpg

Consultants have discovered high levels of arsenic in the ground just outside the boundary of a coal ash waste pond at a power plant near Columbia.

The State has the scoop on what's going on.

Read more stories on this subject in our water topic page.Leakage of arsenic into water supplies (coal plants are usually located near rivers) is often cited as one of the reasons to not love coal plants.

In Charleston we have several coal plants near our water reserves, and it's an issue The Post and Courier dove into this time last year.

Also, late last year a coal ash pond wall broke to cause much damage in Harriman, Tennessee.