Levels of 1,4 dioxane spike in the Cape Fear River, source of contamination...
Levels of 1,4 dioxane, an emerging contaminant that can cause cancer, doubled in raw water entering the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Sweeney plant in Wilmington, according to testing conducted...
View ArticleWake County judge temporarily halts quarry operation near Umstead Park
There will be no hole in the ground, at least for now. Wake Stone is temporarily prohibited from starting its new quarry operation near Umstead State Park, according to an injunction granted in Wake...
View ArticleBill would require schools, day cares to test for lead in drinking water
A new bill would appropriate $8 million in non-recurring funds for public schools and some day cares to test for lead in their drinking water, as well as providing alternate water supplies for...
View ArticleThis week’s top stories on NC Policy Watch
Don’t get shut out — RSVP today for the upcoming March 28 Crucial Conversation luncheon with state Budget Director Charles Perusse and Senior Advisor to the Governor, Ken Eudy — click here to learn...
View ArticleCancer study bill advances; protections against leaking trash trucks introduced
Suspected cancer clusters would get closer scrutiny, according to a bill that passed with a favorable report from the Senate Ag, Environment and Natural Resources Committee today. Senate Bill 297,...
View ArticleAnd the wind cried Harry: Sen. Brown introduces anti-wind energy bill — again
Sen. Harry Brown, who last year received $4,000 in campaign contributions from anti-wind energy billionaires, the Koch Brothers, has filed a bill that would cripple the wind energy along the North...
View ArticleScience panel determines red wolves are a distinct species, underscoring need...
Red wolves are indeed a unique species, according to a National Academy of Sciences report issued yesterday scuttling theories that the animals’ bloodline had been diluted, and that they were no...
View ArticleUnhappy with the Resource Institute, two more coastal towns ask lawmakers to...
The fortunes of the Resource Institute could continue to dwindle, as the towns of Topsail Beach and Surf City are asking their lawmaker for tax dollars originally appropriated to the controversial...
View ArticleBill would hike annual registration fees on electric cars, assess new...
Senate Bill 446 (primary co-sponsors Republican Reps. Jim Davis and Tom McInnis) would increase the annual registration fees for plug-in electric vehicles, and for the first time, assess a registration...
View ArticleAmong GOP voters surveyed, majority want to break Duke Energy monopoly, doubt...
The majority of Republicans surveyed last month would support candidates who were in favor of natural gas pipelines and offshore drilling, according to a poll sponsored by Conservatives for Clean...
View ArticleBills would crack down on polluters, set “precautionary” standard for PFAS...
State environmental regulators would be required to set a standard of 10 parts per trillion for perfluorinated compounds, according to Senate Bill 518, introduced on Friday. The “precautionary” 10 ppt...
View ArticleScientists update lawmakers on PFAS research, including presence of compounds...
In the freezer at Lee Ferguson’s lab at Duke University, there is an Antarctic ice core with layers of the Earth’s atmospheric history trapped inside. Ferguson plans to melt the top portion, then test...
View ArticleDuke Energy to DEQ: See you in court
Duke Energy announced yesterday that it would appeal to the Administrative Office of the Courts the state’s order to excavate all of the coal ash from the utility’s nine remaining unlined pits, also...
View ArticleState lawmakers ask FERC to stop work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline, reassess need
More than 20 Democratic legislators, led by Rep. Pricey Harrison of Guilford County, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking it to issue a stop work order on the Atlantic Coast...
View ArticleIn Iredell County, tests show high percentage of wells contain Chromimum 6
More than three-quarters of private drinking water wells tested in Iredell County had levels of Chromium 6 above the state health screening level, but the source of the compound is unknown. Scientists...
View ArticleThe State of the Environment: Good, bad and meh
Like a box of Cracker Jack, there is a surprise inside the North Carolina Conservation Network’s State of the Environment report: While North Carolina is failing to reach some basic environmental...
View ArticleWhat is your compost made of? Use public records to find out.
Read the two-part investigation about how a lack of federal regulations and state oversight allowed 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen, to be trucked in wastewater sludge from DAK America, a plastics...
View ArticleDuke Energy to DEQ: Coal ash cleanup doesn’t have to be “most protective,”...
On the morning of Monday, April 1, hundreds, if not thousands of people were surprised — even astonished — but perhaps no one more than Duke Energy itself. That day the NC Department of Environmental...
View ArticleThe billboard bill is back and ready to cut down some trees
Because nothing says a trip to the North Carolina mountains like a brigade of billboards asking you if a) you’ve been drinking, b) are pregnant, or c) in despair. Hangry? Other billboards are luring...
View ArticlePolicy Watch journalist Lisa Sorg honored for environmental reporting
Policy Watch journalist Lisa Sorg was honored last night by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters for her numerous accomplishments and continuing excellence as our state’s top environmental...
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