…up the structure. DEQ Chief Deputy Secretary John Nicholson speaks during a meeting of the Environmental Review Commission. Photo: Kirk Ross He said while it is apparent that market forces make it unlikely that exploration in North Carolina would happen anytime soon, without that pressure, the state has an opportunity…
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GenX Bill Orders Studies, Provides No Money
…meeting in October. Rep. Ted Davis, at podium, Rep. Frank Iler and Rep. Holly Grange are shown at right with legislative staff behind them. Photo: Kirk Ross Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, who chairs the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality, said this first round of legislation is…
Scientists Push Ahead With GenX Research
…Quality meeting last week. Photo: Kirk Ross It’s not like a television crime show where a forensic investigator puts a sample in a machine and the answer appears on screen in an instant, he said. “In reality, the science takes time and takes a lot of effort.” Mead said that…
Analysis: Environmental Bills Shaped In Secret
Sen. Trudy Wade, R-Guilford, left, and Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, are shown at the Environmental Review Commission meeting in April 2016, the last time the committee met prior to the GenX meeting last month in Wilmington. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH – Each session of the North Carolina General Assembly generates…
Funds to Address GenX OK’d After Bitter Fight
…residents, to develop a treatment to remove GenX from the water supply. Members of the Environmental Review Commission tour the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority control room in Wilmington in August. Photo: Kirk Ross A key finding in a study that triggered the alarm in June about water quality in…
Legislature Pauses, Environmental Bills Wait
…to return to Raleigh for sessions in both early August and September. Reps. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret, and Larry Yarborough, R-Person, co-chairs of the House Environment Committee, speak during a recent hearing on the coastal storm damage fund. Photo: Kirk Ross Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret, said it was clear as the…
Court Halts Cooper’s Cabinet Confirmations
…Roy Cooper introduces on Jan. 3 Michael Regan, his pick to lead the Department of Environmental Quality. Photo: Kirk Ross In a conference call Tuesday evening, a three-judge panel heard arguments in the case and on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the confirmation process. The court is expected…
General Assembly: A Tale of Two Sessions
With galleries locked after disruptions, Jim Igoe of Durham stands outside listening to the state House session on his phone. A last-minute proposal to increase class sizes was not approved. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — There were two sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly last week, one aimed at…
Extra Session Called After Disaster Relief Vote
…Rep. Henry Michaux Jr., D-Durham, left, and Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, speak Wednesday during the break between sessions. Photo: Kirk Ross In the course of a few minutes around 2 p.m., House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, closed the hurricane and wildfire relief special session called by Gov. Pat McCrory and…
McCrory Outlines Matthew Recovery Plan
Gov. Pat McCrory speaks during a briefing of the Hurricane Matthew Recovery Committee earlier this week at the state Emergency Management Center. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH – Gov. Pat McCrory plans to call a special session of the legislature within the next month to address Hurricane Matthew recovery plans, but…
DEQ: No Push to Relax Buffer Rules
…standards under an ongoing review of all rules mandated by the legislature in 2013. N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Assistant Secretary Tom Reeder speaks last week before the General Assembly’s Environmental Review Commission. Photo: Kirk Ross In a series of briefings to the commission, Reeder, who previously headed up the…
Sutton Ash Plan Begins to Take Shape
…Kirk Ross Commission Meets Under a Cloud The Sutton changes and the new Duke excavation and removal plans were among the heaps of information ready for the new Coal Ash Management Commission when it got down to business in Chapel Hill for its first meeting on Nov. 14. The commission…