Former Coastal Review editor Frank Tursi recently joined Core Sound Museum Director Karen Amspacher and others on a trip to start a conversation with those who live where levees gave way and homes flooded during Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.
Special Reports
Federal cuts lead to unease for state’s wildlife refuges
Amid dramatic funding cuts, leaders of the nonprofits that support national wildlife refuges in the northeastern part of the state fear what’s ahead for these protected lands.
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.
Zeldin says PFAS limits may get tougher, downplays layoffs
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told a Senate committee Wednesday that news reports about the EPA weakening PFAS were inaccurate and that the standards could instead get tougher.
Coastal towns awarded resilience grants see funding pulled
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants program, known as BRIC, a funding source for communities working to be better prepared for the next flood or weather catastrophe, has been axed as “wasteful” spending, leaving local governments in financial binds.
North Carolina among most successful states for BRIC awards
Since the first applications were accepted for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants in 2020, state and local-government officials have been successful applicants.
Chemours, DuPont move to keep court records sealed
Attorneys for Chemours and its predecessor company DuPont have asked a federal judge in a lawsuit brought by Cape Fear area water utilities to keep thousands of documents out of the public eye.
No NC limit on 1,4-dioxane means water customers bear costs
It costs an additional $1-$3 million a year to remove 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, from drinking water drawn from the Cape Fear River, costs that could be avoided if upstream polluters were required to reduce the amount of the compounds they discharge.
DEQ chief: Emerging compounds ‘top priority’ for state
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson said addressing PFAS and other emerging compounds is a top priority during the N.C. Water Resources Research Institute’s annual conference Thursday.
Coastal commission lawyer: CAMA a 50-year ‘balancing act’
Coastal Resources Commission legal counsel Mary Lucasse, speaking during a recent legal symposium in New Bern, said the Coastal Area Management Act balances development and private property rights with protecting natural resources.
Black bears’ resurgence reflects acceptance, economic spur
Conservation efforts and reforestation have allowed the species to rebound in rural northeastern North Carolina, providing a food source for families here and luring “high-net-worth” hunters and visitors.
Eastern NC’s black bears: How hunters helped save a species
Special report: The state’s black bear population was in trouble 50 years ago, but research and conservation measures put in place in the decades since — with hunters’ “direct cooperation” — have enabled the species to recover, although not everyone is happy.
Ever-worsening wildfire threat burns closer to cities, towns
Longer, dryer droughts, warmer seasons year-round — the outlook for wildfires is increasingly grim as the state rapidly grows with already more acreage considered wildland-urban interface than any other state.
Caution increasingly needed as fall wildfire season arrives
Special report: People cause 99% of wildfires, and half of those are due to carelessness, according to the North Carolina Forest Service, all while climate change is making conditions worse.
Bill change adds terminal groin, limits historical site rules
Language to “rein in” the Division of Coastal Management’s authority has been removed, but a Coastal Area Management Act review could return during the next session.
Biologists, advocates push for more wildlife crossing funds
Proponents of the federal Red Wolf Recovery Program say more protected highway wildlife crossings in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge would benefit all species.
