Crews have found “an extensive amount” of debris, including unanticipated contamination, meaning more cleanup time is needed for a 16-acre unit of the federal Superfund site long home to a wood-treatment operation.
Pender landowner on mission to conserve hundreds of acres
Clint North has registered 1,988 acres in Pender County with North Carolina’s Natural Heritage Program, one of only three property owners in the state to register 1,000 acres or more with the state-managed conservation effort.
Hearing on mandated wetland redefinition draws no support
Those who spoke Thursday during a public hearing in Raleigh urged the Environmental Management Commission to work with legislators to rescind the amendment narrowing state protections.
Plan would address threatened eastern black rails’ habitat loss
A public comment period is open on a proposed management plan that seeks to rebuild the once-abundant birds’ numbers by permanently protecting coastal marshes and helping private landowners create habitat.
‘Injustice’: Lawmakers vow to fight Senate’s shrimp trawl ban
As tempers flare over a proposed ban on shrimp trawling in the state’s inland and nearby offshore waters — a Senate move that supporters deem necessary to protect bottom habitats — coastal legislators opposed to the language vowed Tuesday to side with shrimpers.
Ocean water is changing colors, getting warmer: Study
Duke researchers used more than two decades’ worth of satellite data collected by a NASA instrument that scans the globe every two days to analyze the changing colors of the open ocean, which could have an effect on fisheries.
Oak Island residents say oceanfront lots unsuited for homes
Oak Island homeowners who have watched across the street as the protective oceanfront dune created by beach nourishment washed away time after time are pleading with officials to bar houses from being built there.
Coastal areas flood more frequently than thought: Study
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.
