The public comment period on renewing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permits for animal operations is open until July 15.
water quality
Swim advisories issued for Carteret, New Hanover accesses
Swimming advisories were posted Wednesday at public accesses in Morehead City and in Wrightsville Beach, where fecal bacteria levels exceed state and federal water quality standards.
Water authority to discuss stormwater project funding
The State Water Infrastructure Authority is to hear during its July 13-14 meeting feedback on a plan to use ARPA funding for stormwater projects.
Swim advisory issued for Holden Beach public accesses
Water samples in the past 30 days show average enterococci levels that exceed state and federal recreational water quality standards.
Study links timing of blue-green blooms, airborne particles
UNC Institute of Marine Science researchers have found that the life cycles of algal blooms caused by cyanobacteria in water correlates to the airborne presence of fine particulate matter that the EPA calls “the greatest risk to health.”
CFPUA invites comment on source water protection plan
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority officials have released a draft source water protection plan outlining strategies to protect the lower Cape Fear River from pollution.
White Oak Waterkeeper Rebecca Drohan to leave post
Drohan said she was stepping away from the position she had held for four years to further her education.
Climate change, pollution imperil Cape Fear, advocates say
Industrialization, pollution, climate change and PFAS are among the hurdles the Cape Fear River faces, speakers explained Wednesday during Cape Fear River Watch’s first State of the River forum.
Science board to discuss PFAS assessments
North Carolina Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board members are to hear updates on PFAS assessments during the June 6 meeting in Raleigh.
Waterkeepers use catch, inform approach to manage litter
Trash trouts, litter traps and an informed public help protect North Carolina watersheds from plastic waste big and small.
Cape Fear River Watch to host State of the River forum
Event to address lower Cape Fear River estuary issues, fishery restoration, GenX and similar pollutants, and contamination from hog and swine raising facilities.
Group opposes Beaufort project; preliminary plat OK’d
Coastal Carolina Riverwatch says the proposed 47-lot Salt Wynd Preserve development threatens Gibbs Creek, the only creek in Beaufort not permanently closed to shellfishing.
Draft impaired waters list may not reflect nutrient burden
The draft list of impaired waters in North Carolina released earlier this year is required under the federal Clean Water Act, but improved water quality standards are needed and rivers and sounds not on the list also need urgent attention, biologists and advocates say.
Hand in hand, advocacy groups to regroup for clean energy
Various coastal North Carolina nonprofits are organizing Hands Across the Sand events Saturday as part of the national movement to raise awareness of clean energy alternatives.
NC water quality thresholds may leave seagrass vulnerable
New research from UNC shows that the state’s current water quality standards for chlorophyll-a and turbidity may not protect submerged aquatic vegetation in high-salinity estuaries considered economically and environmentally vital.
Corps seeks input on Neuse River Basin flooding study
Comments on proposed alternatives designed to reduce on-going flood risks throughout the Neuse River Basin will be accepted until May 25.
