PFAS in garden compost: Comment now on proposed rules on how much, if any,...
Compost is supposed to enrich your garden soil for a healthy summer bounty: tomatoes, peppers, green beans and melons. But some compost used on gardens and farms in North Carolina — and nationwide —...
View ArticleWith DEQ’s Community Mapping System, learn where polluters locate in...
Comment period on the mapping system ends Wednesday, July 10. When Columbus County officials decided in 2018 to allow the Australian company Malec Brothers to emit 140 tons of toxic methyl bromide into...
View ArticleState to issue fish advisory after elevated levels of mercury found in...
Largemouth Bass caught in Sutton Lake in New Hanover County were found to have elevated levels of mercury in their tissue, according to tests conducted by state environmental officials. The findings,...
View ArticleAfter DEQ denies WesternGeco’s request to conduct offshore seismic testing,...
A clash between the state Department of Environmental Quality and an offshore drilling company has escalated to the federal level, with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross potentially...
View ArticleScientists recommend expanding investigation of suspected thyroid cancer...
North Carolina health officials should expand their investigations of suspected thyroid cancer clusters, including potential environmental causes such as coal ash, according to recommendations by a...
View ArticleFive years after Dan River coal ash spill, Duke Energy settlement would add...
This story has been updated with news regarding the purchase and transferal of the 64 acres by Duke Energy. A settlement between Duke Energy and state and federal officials over the 2014 Dan River...
View ArticleBillboard measure up for final Senate vote this morning; digital billboard...
There are about 8,200 billboards in North Carolina that are currently permitted or in the process of being permitted; now imagine if every one of those highway advertisements became a digital beacon of...
View ArticleHours wasted and a flip-flop on hemp in the Farm Act befuddles House committee
The NC Farm Act: Four months, seven editions, at least a dozen hours of committee hearings and legislative staff time, reams of paper, hundreds of miles of travel by the public, some from as far away...
View ArticleWith plans to build a controversial asphalt plant, Radford Quarries files for...
Update: In response to a reader comment, we have posted within the story the email describing the gun incident. Radford Quarries, a stone mining company with plans to build an asphalt plant near a camp...
View ArticleBREAKING: Judge rules for DEQ in Round 1 of coal ash cleanup appeal
This is a breaking story and has been updated with a statement from Duke Energy. Policy Watch has contacted the NC Department of Environmental Quality for additional details. State environmental...
View ArticleIn coal ash lawsuit, DEQ employee testifies he didn’t look for wells when...
Thad Valentine, an environmental senior specialist at the NC Department of Environmental Quality, looks like someone who spends very little time in courtrooms and a lot of time outside: burly, ruddy,...
View ArticleAttorney General Josh Stein sues EPA over Trump administration rollbacks of...
North Carolina is among 29 states that announced today they are suing the EPA over its repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which limited emissions from coal-burning power plants. “The Clean Power Plan is...
View ArticleSeveral members of Lumbee tribe, climate coalition ask DEQ to revoke Atlantic...
While the Trump administration proposed rules to strip states of some authority to reject natural gas pipelines, opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline petitioned state regulators to revoke the water...
View ArticleThe week’s Top Stories on Policy Watch
1. Plastic is not fantastic: Durham considers 10-cent fee on single-use bags They clutter the gutters and girdle the turtles. They snag in the trees and float in the seas. Plastic bags are strangling...
View ArticleEPA protection of bees, pollinators against pesticides is weak, getting weaker
While the EPA’s pollinator protection program sounds promising, it does little to actually ensure the welfare of the nation’s honeybees, according to an EPA Inspector General report published this...
View ArticleMVP Southgate natural gas pipeline targets Jordan Lake watershed, public...
The Jordan Lake watershed is in the bulls-eye of a proposed natural gas pipeline that would cross the drinking water supplies for hundreds of thousands of people. The Federal Energy Regulatory...
View ArticleIn the House, a major amendment to controversial Duke Energy rate-making bill...
A key provision in Senate Bill 559 was upended in the House Tuesday afternoon, which made the measure more palatable to opponents but added uncertainty to it future. Colloquially known as the Duke...
View ArticleGovernor Cooper vetoes billboard measure
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed House Bill 645 today, temporarily halting a measure that further limited local governments’ authority on where to locate billboards, including digital ones. His veto message...
View ArticleGroundbreaking settlement between environmental groups, NC DOT over Complete...
The Dwarf wedgemussel, the Atlantic pigtoe and the Neuse River waterdog finally got a break. The NC Department of Transportation has agreed to deploy dozens of crucial environmental protections worth...
View ArticleUnregulated, enormous poultry farms and their millions of birds again lie in...
When a hurricane knocks on North Carolina’s front door, as Dorian is today, the seas start to churn, the winds begin to whip and the air Down East stinks worse than usual. We often associate the...
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