State water resources officials remind the public this summer to avoid contact with discolored water, a potential sign that an algal bloom is present.
public health
EPA ‘strategy’ proposes to strike enforceable PFAS standards
The Environmental Protection Agency is wasting no time in advancing its plans to eliminate and reevaluate enforceable standards for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including the compound branded GenX found in the drinking water sources of tens of thousands of North Carolinians.
State readies for hot weather during Heat Safety Week
Gov. Josh Stein has declared Monday through Friday as North Carolina Heat Safety Week, an effort to highlight state resources to keep residents and visitors safe from extreme heat.
Officials to offer tips on prepping for NC’s heat season
State and weather officials are kicking off North Carolina’s heat season, which began May 1, with a virtual meeting targeted to local governments to help them prepare for extreme heat.
Hearing set for proposed sand, limestone mine expansion
Neighbors have circulated and submitted a petition opposing expansion of the mine that they say has already caused a range of problems for them, area roads, animals and wildlife.
Brunswick’s preparedness expo to highlight health, planning
The daytime family-friendly event in Bolivia Tuesday will have representatives from 50 area businesses and organizations with information on health and wellness, emergency planning and resiliency, disaster response and recovery and more.
Speakers scold EMC, share health issues at PFAS rules hearing
About 230 crowded into Wilmington’s Skyline Center Thursday for the Environmental Management Commission’s hearing and dozens spoke, often angrily, about proposed PFAS monitoring and minimization rules.
Move to relax federal coal ash rules ‘potentially concerning’
The proposed loosening of federal coal ash disposal regulations is not expected to affect North Carolina’s robust management rules — at least for the time being.
Commission moves forward with inlet hazard area updates
The Coastal Resources Commission is in the rulemaking process to update boundaries and maps for high-hazard inlet and oceanfront shorelines.
Proposed industrial wastewater rules ‘completely inadequate’
Nearly all who spoke Tuesday during a public hearing in Fayetteville criticized the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s proposed industrial discharge rules fail to protect the drinking water supply of people who live farther down the Cape Fear River.
EPA adds microplastics, pharmaceuticals to contaminant list
In a first, the Environmental Protection Agency has included microplastics and pharmaceuticals on its draft list of substances in public drinking water that are unregulated but merit further scientific scrutiny.
Public comments regarding river basin transfer plan pour in
New issues of concern keep arising as officials in Wilmington and Brunswick County urge rejection of Fuquay-Varina’s plan on file with the state to take more than 6 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River to meet its growth demands.
Public hearings set on proposed wastewater discharge rules
Six public hearings scheduled for next month through May will cover proposed PFAS and 1,4-dixoane monitoring and minimization rules governing wastewater discharges into North Carolina’s surface waters.
Coastal commission holds off changing septic system rules
The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission is holding off on amendments to oceanfront septic tank rules to give the state’s environmental and health departments time to collaborate on the rulemaking process.
NC’s PFAS crisis a warning as Congress debates chemical laws
Supporters call the changes modernization; critics warn they could weaken safeguards in the Toxic Substances Control Act, the nation’s primary chemical safety law.
Commission OKs advancing wastewater rules to public review
The public will soon be able to lodge their comments about proposed rules mandating that public sewer plants test their treated discharge into rivers, creeks and streams for three types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and a chemical solvent.
