Whether they’re country alligators or city alligators, wildlife biologists say the reptiles just want to be left alone, but the loss of habitat means interactions are more and more likely.
Groups call for federal protection of diamondback terrapins
Nonprofits have petitioned the federal fisheries agency to list as endangered the diamondback terrapin, an estuarine creature frequently drowned in abandoned crab pots.
Surf City’s 50-year sand plan calls for 22 million cubic yards
The town’s federal coastal storm risk management project – more than 20 years in the making – will put a total of 21.8 million cubic yards of sand on the beach over the course of a half-century.
Van der Vaart: Likely carcinogen does not equal carcinogen
Chief Administrative Law Judge and Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings Dr. Donald van der Vaart revoked permit limits of 1,4-dioxane for municipal wastewater treatment plants that discharge a compound the EPA calls a likely human carcinogen into the drinking water sources of tens of thousands.
Bald Head Island ferry firm, passengers reach settlement
A proposal submitted to the North Carolina Utilities Commission earlier this month would ease pushback over schedules and issues with capacity.
Topsail Mayor Smith ‘was always doing his homework’
Steve Smith, a Virginia native and East Carolina University graduate who was serving his second term as Topsail Beach mayor and had a reputation for educating himself on coastal issues, died Friday at 73.
Update: PFAS groundwater rule OK’d for public comment
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission on Thursday unanimously waived the normal 30-day public notice, expediting the rulemaking process covering the compounds classified as likely carcinogens.
Cape Lookout dredge spoils used to restore vanishing island
A haven for waterbirds since at least 1970, the quickly vanishing Sandbag Island near Harkers Island was recently expanded from a tenth of an acre to 5 acres using spoils from a dredge project around Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
Bald Head Island curfew put to rest as staff eyes cameras
Public resistance to a proposed ordinance setting a curfew for teens has prompted village staff to instead look to camera systems and other ways to curb late-night sign vandalism and water-balloon attacks.
Commission advances rule for straw bales in lieu of fencing
The Coastal Resources Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved the fiscal impact analysis of the proposed rule, which officials don’t expect to result in a significant increase in the use of straw bales to curb erosion.
Division, nonprofit team to tag red drum, track by satellite
Popular among anglers, little is known about the reproduction and migration of the state’s official saltwater fish, which the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and N.C. Marine & Estuary Foundation’s new pilot tagging study seeks to remedy.
Jacksonville project to pinpoint impaired areas in New River
After successfully taking on the bacterial pollution that had plagued the river for 20 years, city officials are now turning their attention and a $400,000 state grant toward the development-related runoff that causes algal blooms and fish kills.
Program helps commercial property owners reduce runoff
Wilmington’s green infrastructure cost-share rebate program is making thousands of dollars in rebates available to businesses and large-scale property owners who want to help reduce polluted stormwater runoff reaching two city watersheds.
Bald Head Island ferry users say change would cut capacity
A proposed change to the privately run ferry between Bald Head Island and the Brunswick County mainland got a cold reception Tuesday during a public hearing.
Bald Head Island proposes curfew to curtail juvenile antics
Village officials have drafted an islandwide curfew for people younger than 18 in an effort to curb the water-balloon-wielding perpetrators and sign stealers behind recent rashes of 911 calls.
New Hanover County eyes riverside conservation, cleanup
The board of commissioners agreed to take time to draft changes to the county’s 2016 comprehensive land use plan to create a new conservation designation for the riverfront site across from downtown Wilmington
