North Carolina climate and resilience officials say the heat action toolkit they have developed is a customizable guide for local governments to more successfully prevent heat-related deaths amid rising global temperatures.
Spotlight
Totals on PFAS-contaminated utilities ‘coming down daily’
The state’s top drinking water protection official told the Environmental Management Commission Thursday that a shrinking number of North Carolinians get their drinking water from public systems with at least one of the synthetic chemicals that exceeds new federal limits.
Estuarium to get cooking with new Seafood School exhibit
The Washington-based environmental education center’s new exhibits will highlight the estuary’s role as a nursery for marine life and have a Cooking Classroom with a view of the Pamlico River to host programs on how to prepare key species.
Fisheries Division seeks to delay mandatory catch reporting
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is asking the legislature for another year before making effective a controversial new catch-reporting requirement now set to go in force Dec. 1.
Biser urges environmental commission to hear PFAS rules
NCDEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser is urging the Environmental Management Commission to move forward this week with setting surface and groundwater standards for PFAS, a move the NC Chamber opposes.
Anglers: Reporting law puts burden on them, unenforceable
Coastal recreational anglers are questioning the fairness and motive of a new law requiring them and commercial fishermen to report certain harvests to the state starting this year.
Recent whale deaths unfortunate, not alarming: Scientists
Researchers say the stranded whales that washed ashore in quick succession earlier this year “may just be an unfortunate statistical anomaly” and were unrelated to offshore wind development.
Street inundation linked to elevated bacteria in creek: Study
N.C. State researchers found elevated levels of fecal bacteria in water samples collected from a tidal creek in Beaufort and town streets following rainfall.
Measure would order restored protection for Jockey’s Ridge
Sen. Bobby Hanig has proposed language that would direct the Coastal Resources Commission to implement its longstanding rule protecting Jockey’s Ridge until the commission can adopt a permanent rule that again defines the massive dune as an area of environmental concern.
Commission adopts amended rule for Jockey’s Ridge
The Coastal Resources Commission unanimously approved on Thursday a revised rule to be returned along with a supporting letter from the state geologist to the board that objected to the longstanding protective designation for Jockey’s Ridge.
Hearing set on new fishing catch reporting requirement
Coastal recreational and commercial fishermen will have to report certain fish harvests under a new North Carolina law that takes effect later this year.
Rouzer’s bill loosening sand-mining rule clears US House
A bill introduced by Rep. David Rouzer would allow barely a handful of East Coast beach towns to continue using sand from federally protected coastal zones for their nourishment projects — a measure the Audubon Society opposes.
Timbermill Wind turbine parts en route to Chowan County
Massive wind turbine components that arrived recently at the state port in Morehead City are on their way to Timbermill Wind’s 6,300-acre, 45-turbine onshore energy facility currently under construction near Edenton.
Proposed rules address possible Microcystis bloom sources
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing revisions to nutrient discharge standards for meat and poultry processors’ wastewater, a potential source of mysterious blooms in the Cape Fear River a decade ago.
Black River advocacy group set to hold inaugural meeting
The newly formed Friends of the Black River will host its first meeting Tuesday, an effort to build an alliance of organizations and people interested in helping protect the 60-mile-long natural wonder.
Ocracoke festival aims to keep alive carving traditions
Organizers are putting the final touches on the sixth annual Ocracoke Island Waterfowl Festival scheduled for the third weekend of April in the Ocracoke School gymnasium.
