Developer Sammy Varnam of Brunswick County speaks during the committee meeting, accompanied by Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, right. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — A local battle between developers and the town of Sunset Beach reached the halls of the legislature Tuesday as a Senate committee heard from both sides before…
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Coastal Stormwater Rules Redux
…on legal challenges to air toxics permits and the removal of all air quality monitors not directly required by Environmental Protection Agency. Jay Styron, an oysterman from Cedar Island, argues that his business depends on clean water. Photo: Kirk Ross In last year’s back and forth between the two chambers…
Ribbon-cutting set for new StoryWalk project in Leland
…Park trail, each featuring a page from a children’s book. The first story is “The Traveling Coin” by local author Kevin Kirk. Visitors can walk the 0.3-mile trail to read the full story. This project is designed create movement, reading, and creativity. The stories featured on the StoryWalk will be…
EPA Denies Retaliation Against Scientist
…lost that job prospect after inviting Sens. Harper Peterson, D-New Hanover, and Kirk DeViere, D-Cumberland, to tour the agency’s Raleigh laboratory. Call to Action: One of our PFAS scientist (Dr. Johnsie Lang) has recently lost her job at the EPA when she invited Senator Harper Peterson and Kirk DeViere on…
Coastal Review Online Wins 22 Press Awards
The award winners, from left: Sam Bland, Pat Garber, Trista Talton, Frank Tursi, Catherine Kozak, Kirk Ross, Mark Hibbs and Tess Malijenovsky. CHAPEL HILL – Coastal Review Online won almost two-dozen state press awards Thursday for its coverage of environmental and conservation news and issues along the N.C. coast. The…
NC Environmental Policy Talks Mostly Secret
Sunshine Week, March 10-16, when news organizations highlight the many obstacles to transparency and openness in government, often focuses on the difficulties in accessing public records, secret meetings and other various ways to cloak government action. Kirk Ross Last year, I wrote about the difficulty of tracking proposals to change…
Independence Day on the NC Coast
Featured Photo A July Fourth fireworks display lights up the boardwalk at Carolina Beach, one of many North Carolina beach communities that celebrated the holiday with fireworks over the water. Photo: Kirk Ross Got a photo you’d like to share with Coastal Review Online readers? Please read our submission guidelines….
EPA Nominee Regan Set for Senate Hearing
Michael Regan responds during his confirmation hearing before the North Carolina Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee April 6, 2017. Photo: Kirk Ross When North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan appears Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works as President Biden’s nominee…
DEQ Secretary Michael Regan to Head EPA
Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan speaks to drilling opponents at an anti-offshore oil rally in Raleigh in 2018. Photo: Kirk Ross President-elect Joe Biden has nominated North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Citing the toll exacted by the “undeniable,…
Bills Offer Options for PFAS Regulation
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Water Operations Supervisor Ben Kearns, left, shows legislators water filtration testing equipment during a 2017 tour of the authority’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant in Wilmington. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, and about three dozen cosponsors, have introduced a series of bills…
School Boards Eye Filtration to Remove PFAS
…left, of Clean Cape Fear, and Mark Ruffalo address state lawmakers last week at the Legislative Building. Photo: Kirk Ross Legislation proposed Last week, actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred in “Dark Waters,” a film about the fight over PFAS contamination in West Virginia, visited both Wilmington and Pittsboro to draw…
Report Details Increasing Climate Threats
Kenneth Kunkel, senior scientist and lead scientist for assessments with the N.C. Institute for Climate Studies, speaks during a presentation at the state Climate Change Interagency Council meeting Jan. 22 in Raleigh. Photo: Kirk Ross Published in partnership with Carolina Public Press RALEIGH — A North Carolina research group is…