Residents can donate their trees to Fort Macon State Park and Surfrider Bogue Banks for dune stabilization or drop it off at a county convenience site.
News & Features
Inlet channel maintenance made simpler: Go with the flow
The Corps of Engineers now says it has authority to follow the deepest natural water, or best water, in the Rollinson Channel Navigation Project linking Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
Pender revises zoning ‘to properly regulate’ solar farms
Commissioners amended zoning text Dec. 5, less than a week after a California-based solar company filed a lawsuit against the county for turning down its request for a permit.
1898 Oregon Inlet Life-Saving Station must go, but where?
The N.C. Aquariums system, which owns the historic structure at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, is looking to move and preserve it.
Coastal restoration firms show off living shoreline tech
Companies in shoreline stabilization and restoration recently presented their techniques and materials for a statewide steering committee of scientists, federal and state agencies, and nonprofits.
GenX study finds Chemours-specific chemicals in residents
Though GenX was not found in the blood samples of 1,020 residents in Wilmington, Fayetteville and Pittsboro who participated in the 2020-2021 GenX exposure study, three PFAS unique to the Chemours Fayetteville Works facility were in the blood of nearly all.
State delays decision on Enviva Ahoskie air quality permit
Division of Air Quality officials are considering public input and feedback from the Secretaries’ Environmental Justice and Equity Board before taking final action on the draft permit.
Officials celebrate funding of Sugarloaf Island restoration
The legislature appropriated $2 million to restore Morehead City’s Sugarloaf Island, a barrier protecting waterfront attractions from coastal storms that has been rapidly eroding for decades.
Draft wind energy areas off NC coast may be downsized
The recently announced draft offshore wind energy areas, including two off the northern North Carolina coast, may be scaled back before being finalized early next year.Â
Water clarity standard to save seagrass an ongoing process
Water quality degradation from nutrients and sediments reduce light penetration needed for seagrass survival and is a threat to coastal fisheries.
Process of updating inlet hazard area rules to be continued
A rule approved in September deleted an exception that would allow homes of up to 2,000 square feet to be built in areas where the new erosion rate-based setbacks would prevent construction of new houses.
Carbon capture project proposed for ocean waters off Duck
Vesta North Carolina has applied for permits to place about 20,000 cubic yards of ground olivine 1,500 feet from the Outer Banks town’s shoreline.
Submerged power lines further delay ferry channel realignment
Underwater power lines crossing Hatteras Inlet’s Connector Channel have created another delay in finalizing the realignment of the Hatteras ferry channel.
Corps reinstates seasonal dredging window at state ports
The Army Corps of Engineers’ action follows a federal judge’s ruling that the agreement with the state to eliminate the restrictions on hopper dredging meant to protect federally listed species was illegal.
Emerald Isle board hears plan for 30-acre, forested park
Town commissioners and the public were briefed on the two-phased design for McLean-Spell Park, an undeveloped tract with maritime forest and wetlands the town purchased in 2018.
Understaffed environmental agency ‘stretched to the limit’
With nearly 20% of N.C. Department of Environmental Quality jobs unfilled and hundreds of staff set to retire, cracks are revealed in permitting, regulatory functions.
