Home sellers, as of July 1, now have to respond to detailed flood history questions relevant to the property on a form to be provided to buyers before an offer is made, but gray areas remain.
News & Features
Long-running UNCW field course merges science, policy
One scholar calls the seven-night, eight-day University of North Carolina Wilmington summer class an “eye-opener” to the environmental issues coastal North Carolina faces.
Commission members balk on 5 proposed PFAS standards
Committees of the Environmental Management Commission stalled proposed health standards for most of the eight synthetic compounds put forth, including two the EPA classified as likely carcinogens.
Emergency channel depth alarms Waterways Commission
With no dredging currently in the works and a busier-than-average hurricane season forecast, the Dare County Waterways Commission agreed this week to alert county commissioners that the emergency evacuation channel from Hatteras Island is dangerously shoaled.
Ocracoke visitors share their success in dimming the lights
Kaye and Rick Kohler, longtime Ocracoke vacationers, shared during their recent stay how artificial light harms people and wildlife and how they helped their community park back home in Virginia get certified as a Dark Skies Park.
Cooper declines to sign bill delaying catch-reporting rule
The controversial measure that requires recreational anglers and commercial fishermen to report their catch of five named species takes effect late next year.
Sea turtle deaths lead to federal review for nuclear plant
Because the deaths exceed the allowable limit for the federally listed species, the plant near Southport is to undergo an Endangered Species Act review.
Measure gives Bald Head Island OK to study adding groin
Village officials say the bill allows the option to study whether a terminal groin would be viable in controlling erosion at the east end of the island’s south beach, but it remains unclear whether it will happen.
Legislature to revisit significant archaeological resources
Sen. Norm Sanderson last week vowed to again take up measures to deal “with all the archaeological situations that we have in North Carolina that have kind of sprung up on us recently.”
Forecasters, lifeguards warn: Rip currents are deadly
Rip currents have killed four times as many people in the Carolinas since 2000 as tornados, floods and wind combined, a National Weather Service official said.
Judge Boyle rejects preliminary injunction in wetlands case
District Court Judge Terrence Boyle last week denied Robert White’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the Pasquotank County man’s challenge to Clean Water Act enforcement against him.
Bald Head Island Conservancy questions groin bill logic
The nonprofit’s executive director, whom the village council invited to make a presentation Friday, urged a smart decision regarding marine life and terminal groin law changes pending in Raleigh.
No recreational flounder season likely this year; here’s why
The agency that manages inland waters is looking for public input on a proposed temporary rule to close recreational flounder season in inland waters for 2024.
Public can weigh in on Wilmington Harbor expansion plan
The Army Corps of Engineers has kicked off a public review and comment period for its environmental study of the State Ports Authority’s controversial plan to deepen and widen Wilmington Harbor to accommodate larger ships from Asia.
Some coastal NC towns’ beach sand needs may go unmet
Amid a tug-of-war over claims to available nearshore borrow sites and studies pointing to critical shortages of beach-quality sand, some North Carolina beach towns are looking for sources beyond state waters.
Lake Mattamuskeet algaecide pilot study tied up in court
A lawsuit to stop a controversial pilot study to treat the cyanobacteria in the 40,000-acre freshwater lake has stalled both the plans and the funds.
