The 6-0 decision means millions of dollars that Smithfield Foods pays as the result of a 25-year deal with the state nearly 22 years ago may continue to be administered through the state’s Environmental Enhancement Grant program.
pollution
Online session set to focus on NC clean water issues
Climate Action North Carolina, a project of the League of Conservation Voters, is hosting an online event later this month on issues regarding clean water in the state.
Project to gauge how well storm drain traps catch litter
Cape Fear River Watch’s 80% Project is employing traps in a handful of stormwater drains in Wilmington and Leland to reduce the amount of litter that reaches the river and, ultimately, the ocean.
Brunswick, New Hanover County chairs blast Chemours ads
Top elected officials in New Hanover and Brunswick counties have issued blistering criticisms of Chemours’ recent television ads touting the chemical company’s environmental record.
Groups revive lawsuit against EPA over Chemours’ pollution
The groups say the Environmental Protection Agency refuses to hold Chemours accountable by requiring the company to pay for epidemiological studies in the Cape Fear region.
Toxic exposure issue at military bases warrants action now
Jonathan Sharp, CFO with Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., writes that more needs to be done to address the health effects military veterans and their families have suffered as a result of exposure to toxic compounds during their service and time on installations such as Camp Lejeune.
‘A Sound River’ documentary traces nonprofit’s 40 years
Filmmaker Rain Bennett, who grew up on the Pamlico River and produced the history of environmental nonprofit Sound Rivers, says storytelling is a powerful way to stand up to polluters.
Meetings set for Tuesday on Navassa Superfund work
The meetings about projects related to the former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp.’s creosote-based wood-treatment site are online only, and two times are offered to allow greater public participation.
Brunswick County officials report sewer overflow
Officials estimated that about 13,000 gallons of untreated wastewater reached an unnamed tributary of Persimmon Swamp in Calabash.
Leadership, action needed to reduce plastic pollution
“Our coast is quite literally our lifeline. And it is being increasingly sabotaged by plastic. So why aren’t our businesses and policy-makers doing something about it? ” writes Oceana’s Randy Sturgill.
Fish study’s findings trigger consumption advisory update
A recent study that showed fish favored by subsistence fishers along the Brunswick and Cape Fear rivers were found to have elevated levels of arsenic, hexavalent chromium and mercury has prompted a state health advisory.
Paddlers’ trip highlights issues, beauty along the Pamlico
Sound Rivers’ Environmental Projects Coordinator Clay Barber and Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Jill Howell recently spent five days paddling the Pamlico River and its estuaries with Miller the pup on a mission to document environmental conditions.
City partners with groups, businesses to cut plastic waste
Wilmington officials have resolved to reduce plastic pollution and improve the city’s recycling program through outreach, education and support of businesses that minimize use of plastic straws and utensil.
Guest commentary: Where plastic flows into the ocean
Kemp Burdette of Cape Fear River Watch and Ann Colley of the Moore Charitable Foundation write that there’s an overlooked connection in our own backyards that funnels plastics toward major bodies of water and eventually the world’s oceans.
Plastics, lax enforcement blamed as roadside litter worsens
Volunteers who pick up litter along coastal NC roadways say plastic pollution is a growing part of the problem as the numbers of charges and convictions for littering dwindle.
3M Pounds of Roadside Litter Collected
NCDOT, which is hosting a Litter Sweep April 10-24, says it has collected more than 3 million pounds of litter from roadsides this year.
