Coastal communities are inundated more often than previously believed, with levels taking longer to recede in rural areas, and the way government agencies gather data to predict floods fails to provide true estimates, according to a report published Monday.
As Brunswick building booms, existing residents see effects
In the past decade, fast-growing Brunswick County has approved projects with nearly 50,000 new homes, most still being built, amid calls for a development pause and storms that have brought unprecedented flooding.
Humpback eyes see silhouettes at distance, little detail: Study
By measuring a humpback whale eye specimen, University of North Carolina Wilmington and Duke University researchers found that the species has limited vision but that it suits their natural environment.
Proposed state rules on discharges defanged as EPA retreats
The Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement this week that it will rescind and reexamine four expected PFAS rules follows a state Environmental Management Commission committee’s opaque decision stalling proposed surface water rules on three compounds.
Draft state rules for 1,4-dioxane, PFAS dischargers delayed
State staff need more time before presenting draft monitoring requirements for dischargers of PFAS and 1,4-dioxane for the Environmental Management Commission to consider.
Coastal commission OKs limited use of wheat straw bales
The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission has changed an oceanfront development rule to allow wheat straw bales be used under certain conditions as an alternative to sand fencing to try and fend off erosion, a move environmental and wildlife groups oppose.
Bald Head Island’s abundant deer spur management talks
The village council is in discussions on how to manage the growing number of deer that populate the Brunswick County island.
Moratoriums threaten aquaculture, environment, say farmers
Shellfish farmers say their industry’s positive benefits have been proven elsewhere in the country, but holds on new state aquaculture leases and a moratorium that Topsail Island residents want could sink businesses.
Budget proposal would toll free ferries, hike fees on others
The state Senate’s proposed budget approved Thursday includes new tolls to ride the currently free state ferries and increases costs to transit rivers and sounds elsewhere along the coast.
Groups move for disclosure of Chemours’ sealed documents
The advocacy organizations’ motion against the chemical company argues that unsealing the 21,000 pages of documents “will help communities understand the harm the facility has caused, and will continue to cause, to their own health, their property values, and even the lives of future generations.”
Tariffs not a long-term fix for shrimping industry: shrimpers
While U.S. shrimpers lauded the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported shrimp, their message to the government is to stop subsidizing foreign shrimp production.
Plan aims to curb shellfish lease conflicts, moratorium fervor
Concerns over damping the state’s growing aquaculture industry amid a push for a halt to new leases by leaders of Topsail Island three towns have sparked a proposal to create a GIS tool to improve site selection.
Satellite tracking study aims to unlock more red drum secrets
A project now in its second year seeks to temporarily tag and track by satellite 40 of the saltwater species so popular with recreational anglers could help fill data gaps that decades of research studies have so far left open.
Blue crab management plan revision runs into rough waters
Proposed limits on the commercial harvest of blue crabs faces critics who say the management plan amendment is based on a benchmark stock assessment using data from 1995 to 2016.
Chemours, DuPont move to keep court records sealed
Attorneys for Chemours and its predecessor company DuPont have asked a federal judge in a lawsuit brought by Cape Fear area water utilities to keep thousands of documents out of the public eye.
No NC limit on 1,4-dioxane means water customers bear costs
It costs an additional $1-$3 million a year to remove 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, from drinking water drawn from the Cape Fear River, costs that could be avoided if upstream polluters were required to reduce the amount of the compounds they discharge.
