Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers officials said Monday that proposed changes to the existing “waters of the United States” definition are to focus on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water.
water quality
Sediment Control Commission to meet Thursday
The North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission during its meeting Thursday is to consider continuing to give N.C. Department of Transpiration authority to review and approve erosion and sedimentation control plans for land-disturbing activities.
Asheboro plant discharges elevated levels of 1,4-dioxane
Sampling at Asheboro’s wastewater treatment plant revealed elevated discharges of 1,4-dioxane, a likely human carcinogen, in a waterway upstream of drinking water sources for some 900,000 North Carolinians.
Commission holds PFAS, 1,4-dioxane vote for future meeting
The Environmental Management Commission voted to postpone hearing proposed rules to monitor and minimize the two human-made chemical compounds from industrial users and dischargers.
Port’s Cape Fear dredge project fails taxpayers, environment
Guest commentary: Deepening the Cape Fear River will only worsen flooding around the downtown Wilmington waterfront and the North Carolina Battleship site and lead to a substantial loss of vital wetlands and floodplains.
Coastal Counties Fisheries Coalition to hold third meeting
The group formed in opposition to a proposed but failed shrimp-trawling ban is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Morehead City.
EMC committee may move proposed PFAS surface water rules
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee will consider proposed monitoring and minimization rules
Wastewater rules comment period extended, hearing set
Public comments will be accepted through Dec. 15 on a draft rule that would allow domestic wastewater discharges into zero-flow streams.
Chemours is doubling down on its toxic history: NRDC
Chemours is not a company that can be trusted to expand its operations responsibly, and it’s an example of the national PFAS pollution crisis, writes Drew Ball of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Opponents urge EPA to uphold objection to Asheboro permit
Those who spoke last week at the Environmental Protection Agency’s hearing on Asheboro’s wastewater permit urged the EPA to uphold its objection to the city’s proposed permit with no effluent discharge limit for 1,4-dioxane into the drinking water supply of hundreds of thousands downstream.
Public should avoid blue, green water in Chowan River
State health and water quality officials urge the public to avoid contact with green or blue water on the Chowan River between the Occano community in Bertie County and Arrowhead Beach in Chowan County.
Carolina Beach volunteer planting rescheduled for Thursday
The volunteer planting, which was originally scheduled to take place Monday, will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday in a 10-acre wetland that is being restored in Carolina Beach State Park.
$4.6M in grants to go to coastal conservation projects
More than $4.6 million will go to coastal conservation efforts such as property acquisition and living shoreline projects out of $36 million in statewide grants through North Carolina Land and Water Fund, the state announced earlier this week.
Public may comment on revised Vanceboro quarry permit
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources is accepting public comments through Oct. 29 on the revised discharge permit for the Martin Marietta Material Inc. Vanceboro Quarry.
Vast majority of litter removed from streams is plastic: Study
A three-year study recently published in the journal Community Science finds that about 96% of litter North Carolina waterkeeper organizations and their volunteers removed from trash traps were plastics.
State officials remind public to avoid discolored waters
North Carolinians are reminded to avoid coming into contact with discolored looking water in ponds, lakes and rivers because it could indicate the presence of an algal bloom.
