NC Farm Act, fattened with protections for hog industry, up for Senate vote...
Room 1127 of the Legislative Building was hot, noisy and crowded, with onlookers packed cheek to jowl. The scene at yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting felt temporarily like a hog...
View ArticleEnvironmental advocates: We’ve had it up to here (literally) with polluting...
In case you missed it earlier this week amidst all the hubbub at the General Assembly, the good people at the advocacy group Environment North Carolina launched an important new anti-pollution campaign...
View ArticleDEQ cites Chemours with more groundwater violations, asks court to intervene,...
State environmental officials say they will petition a Bladen County Superior Court Judge to force Chemours to reduce its air emissions of fluorinated compounds at the Fayetteville Works facility by...
View ArticleLandowners along potential MVP Southgate path fighting unwanted land agents...
Intimidating phone calls. Hard-sell tactics. Alleged trespassing. Since April, when the owners of the Mountain Valley Pipeline several property owners in Rockingham and Alamance counties have publicly...
View ArticleBREAKING: Federal hog nuisance trial halted
[This is a developing story. It will be updated as information becomes available.] The federal hog nuisance trial against Murphy-Brown and Smithfield Foods has been stopped, at least temporarily,...
View ArticleWATCH: Republican legislator chide colleagues on rushed process, legislation...
If you missed it with this week’s marathon sessions at the General Assembly, be sure to take 14 minutes this weekend to listen to Rep. John Blust repeatedly challenge his colleagues on the House floor...
View ArticleBill to limit hog nuisance suits passes; coalition of nonprofits urges...
The controversial North Carolina Farm Act was sent to Gov. Cooper today after the state Senate concurred with the House amendments. The bill has attracted intense opposition from a variety of parties,...
View ArticlePreliminary fish tissue, lake results show presence of GenX, other...
Surface water, sediment and three species of fish from a private lake near the Chemours plant tested positive for several perfluorinated compounds, state environmental officials told the Science...
View ArticleBREAKING: DHHS investigating suspected cancer cluster near Lake Norman
This is a developing story. Policy Watch will run a full story, including interviews with scientists and community residents tomorrow. Two areas near Lake Norman have reported statistically higher than...
View ArticleEPA grossly underestimated “safe” levels of fluorinated compounds in drinking...
The Environmental Protection Agency was far too lenient when it set a provisional health goal of 70 parts per trillion for fluorinated compounds such as PFOS and PFOA in drinking water. That’s the...
View ArticleShielding Murphy-Brown from nuisance lawsuits sparks a fracas in the streets,...
The band was in the middle of its set of oldies and country tunes when a bystander in the crowd of 500 people muttered, “Uh-oh. This could be trouble.” Several husky men had gathered in front of the...
View ArticleIn North Carolina, several endangered species are on the ropes
The survival of several threatened and endangered species in North Carolina became even more precarious this week, as government officials published preliminary decisions on the red wolf, dwarf...
View ArticleLegislators have gone home, but the week ahead includes key dates on...
The Legislative Building might be quiet as a tomb, but state and federal agencies are crafting critical environmental policies that will affect North Carolina’s air, water and endangered species....
View ArticleDust-up between DEQ, advocates over environmental justice analysis at HF Lee...
An environmental group is criticizing state regulators for failing to release an environmental justice analysis on a fly ash project at Duke Energy’s HF Lee plant before the public comment period...
View ArticleDEQ slow its roll on approving methyl bromide emissions from proposed log...
Two critical air permits involving methyl bromide are still under review by the NC Department of Environmental Quality, placing the companies’ plans for log fumigation on hold. Royal Pest Solutions,...
View ArticleEnvironmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board could leverage local...
What the EPA won’t do because its leadership is beholden to polluting industries. What DEQ can’t do for lack of funding and political power. What many local governments refuse to do for fear industry...
View ArticleResidents living near Chemours Fayetteville Works plant invited to...
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bladen and Cumberland county health departments plan to test the blood and urine of...
View ArticleThis week’s top stories on NC Policy Watch
1. Powerful new hog trial testimony puts Smithfield back on the defensive By Lisa Sorg As a former police officer and firefighter, Wesley Sewell has encountered odors so putrid that they would make...
View ArticleTrump Administration wants to roll back Endangered Species Act; many NC...
Saint Francis’ satyr, a delicate, small butterfly with a wingspan of just an inch and a half, lives in secret. Only one community of the endangered butterfly is known to exist in Cumberland and Hoke...
View ArticleFERC approves construction to begin in NC on Atlantic Coast Pipeline; status...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is allowing construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to begin in North Carolina, according to a notice issued late yesterday. But it’s unclear what this...
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