The Coastal Resources Commission voted Tuesday to allow the N.C. Port of Wilmington to enlarge its Cape Fear River turning basin to accommodate bigger ships.
Coastal Policy
Just a ‘Misunderstanding,’ State Says
State environmental officials responded this week to EPA’s warning about limiting people’s rights to challenge permits by noting that it’s all a “misunderstanding.”
EPA Warns State on Permit Cases
An EPA official has warned the N.C. environmental secretary that actions to limit the public’s right to challenge pollution permits will prompt the agency to step in.
Groups Question Land Ownership
Environmental groups are questioning whether the developer of a controversial subdivision on Sunset Beach actually owns the land.
Derelict Boats Are Subject of Survey
The survey is designed to assess the extent of abandoned and derelict boats in N.C. coastal waterways. They can be hazards to navigation and ticking environmental time bombs, but no one does much about them.
Group Threatens Legal Action to Protect Wetlands
The N.C. Coastal Federation plans to notify two federal agencies today that it intends to sue them for not enforcing federal law to protect more than 250 acres of wetlands in Pamlico County.
CRC Won’t Fill Science Panel Vacancies Yet
Uncertain of what an updated sea-level rise report would accomplish, two members of the N.C. Coastal Resource Commission’s Science Panel resigned this year. The chairman won’t fill any positions until the release of that report in 2015.
Cape Fear Request Draws Fire
A request to reclassify a portion of the lower Cape Fear River as swamp is drawing sharp criticism from some members of the organization asking for the change because it would lower a key water-quality standard.
Marina to CRC: Help Our Boats Get Wet
Boats launching from a Wilmington marina can only access the Cape Fear River at high tide. Marina owners turn to the Coastal Resources Commission today in hopes of a solution.
Sunset Beach Plan May Not Stop Project
The town’s land-use plan may not stop a proposed project to build 23 oceanfront houses on land that was once an inlet.
Developer Wants to Build in Old Hazard Area
Two months after the state’s controversial decision to remove an old inlet on Sunset Beach from its inlet-hazard zone, a developer announced plans to put 23 homes there.
Pamlico Commissioners Lose Patience
Five months after asking the Army Corps of Engineers to investigate alleged illegal ditching of wetlands, Pamlico County commissioners want EPA to intervene.
How Aggressive Will the State Be?
Regulators charged with protecting the state’s wetlands now work for a slimmed down environmental agency that is expected to be more business friendly. More of those regulators than ever before now can be fired at any time, for any reason.
Bad Moon Arising Over State’s Wetlands?
Several events during the first year of Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration have activists in North Carolina alarmed that the state’s once-firm commitment to preserving wetlands is eroding.
CRC to Finally Get Down to Work
After a legislature-mandated shakeup that reduced its numbers and replaced roughly two-thirds of its membership, a newly-reconstituted N.C. Coastal Resources Commission starts work this week.
Water Bill Worries Jones, Others on Coast
As it heads to a conference committee, the federal water resources bill still has some skeptics on the N.C. coast, chief among them U.S. Rep. Walter Jones.
