WILMINGTON – For more than two hours, residents in an area considered ground zero for PFAS contamination in North Carolina passionately, often angrily, chastised the Environmental Management Commission’s proposed PFAS monitoring and minimization rules.

Dozens of people who signed up to speak – 60 in all – at the public hearing Thursday in downtown Wilmington took turns at a podium unleashing what turned into a collective no-holds-barred rebuke of the proposed rules and, at times, the commissioners who pushed them forward for public comment.

Several of those who spoke in front of a crowd of about 230 people who filled a room in Wilmington’s Skyline Center shared stories about their own health issues, illnesses their loved ones have suffered, and family and friends they’ve lost to various forms of cancer.

Throughout the hearing, people snapped their fingers, signaling their agreement with those speaking at the podium. At the close of every short speech, the audience erupted in rousing applause and cheers.

The sheer number of people who signed up to speak prompted Environmental Management Commissioner Yvonne Bailey, the hearing officer that evening, to ask that residents limit their comments to two minutes.

“Those of us living here have advocated relentlessly at the local, state and federal level, and even at the U.N. for protection of our air and water,” said New Hanover County resident Priss Endo. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality “has proposed new surface water standards, but in response, the Environmental Management Commission is proposing regulations that will still allow 500 industries across the state to release PFAS chemicals.”

The hearing last week was the third and final the commission scheduled this year on its proposed monitoring and minimization rules for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS; and a branded compound called GenX developed by DuPont spinoff Chemours. The commission has also been hosting public hearings on similar proposed rules for the monitoring and minimization of 1,4-dioxane, an industrial solvent and likely human carcinogen that has also been found in downstream drinking water sources.

PFAS are a mixture of chemicals used in a host of consumer products from nonstick cookware and food packaging to stain-resistant carpets, water-repellant attire, and makeup.

These chemicals have been found in numerous drinking water sources in North Carolina and traced back to discharges from industrial manufacturers, landfills, firefighting facilities and publicly owned treatment works that accept industry effluent.

Ongoing research into human health effects of PFAS, of which there are more than 15,000 related compounds, have found that some of the substances, including PFOA and PFOS, have been linked to health issues such as weakened immune response, liver damage, low infant birth weights, and higher risk of certain cancers.

Nearly a decade has passed since residents in the Lower Cape Fear region first learned through a local newspaper article that Chemours’ Fayetteville Works facility in Bladen County had for decades knowingly discharged PFAS directly into the Cape Fear River.

Since then, public drinking water utilities that pull raw water from the river have spent millions of dollars upgrading their facilities with filtration systems and methods to keep PFAS out of their final product.

Chemours, under a 2019 consent order, has had to test thousands of privately owned drinking water wells for contamination.

“The 2019 consent order was a start,” resident Jim Nesbit said. “It’s not enough. Your mission is to protect the health of the people of this state. Use the full authority you have to take on the pollution of corporations.”

The PFAS monitoring and minimization rules the commission agreed to put out for public comment have remained under a hail of verbal fire from residents, the public utilities that provide their drinking water, and environmental organizations throughout the Cape Fear region.

As written, the rules do not set specific discharge limits or penalties for PFAS dischargers found to be in violation of those rules.

“As a 33-year water professional and former EMC member, I am testifying that the voluntary minimization plans, as proposed, are ineffective,” Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Executive Director Ken Waldroup said Thursday. “They’re essentially empty facades that do not solve the problem. These minimization plans do not remove PFAS from the Cape Fear River because all reductions are voluntary. Voluntary plans are simply ineffective. Upstream dischargers have had decades to disclose and minimize their PFAS discharges. Unfortunately, history has shown that dischargers only do so in response to effective regulation with specific mandatory limits or mitigation.”

Dr. LeShonda Wallace, who serves on the advisory board for the GenX Exposure Study, one that is measuring GenX and other PFAS exposure in area residents, said the proposed rules ignore science.

Instead, the proposed rules prioritize corporate convenience over public health, she said.

“The impacts are also economic as well as generational,” Wallace said. “PFAS contamination reduces property values, and it shifts the cost away from the polluters and on to the rate payers. Environmental protection and justice requires that those who cause the pollution pay to prevent it and that they pay to clean it up, and I urge the commission to reject these ineffective minimization rules and adopt enforceable, evidence-based standards that reduce pollution at the source.”

Lifelong New Hanover County resident Chip Jackson carried a doll baby with him to the podium.

“I came here tonight to tell this panel how ignorant I have been. I’ve been ignorant because nine years ago I trusted you people. I trusted you to do something,” he said. “I’ll give y’all a pro tip. When you see a baby float by in a stream, you look upstream to see who threw it in the stream.”

Resident Rosemary Schmitt said she simply wants to trust that the water coming out of her tap is not harmful.

“Drinking water should be safe, not something that comes with a list of side effects,” she said.

Just two weeks away from graduating with an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Tyler Raines said he was in a conundrum.

“I don’t have much else to say that hasn’t already been said about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of PFAS on the health of all human beings,” he said. “As I think about where I’m planning to root myself post-graduation, I find myself at a loss. Do I stay here in Wilmington and get poisoned by PFAS or do I go back to my home in Fuquay-Varina and get poisoned by 1,4-dioxane?”

The Environmental Management Commission could decide as early as September to approve or reject the proposed rules. If adopted, those rules would go to the Rules Review Commission for final approval by early next year.

Written comments on the proposed PFAS monitoring and minimization rules are being accepted by email to publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with the subject title “PFAS minimization” or by mail to Karen Preston, DEQ-DWR NPDES Permitting Section, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC  27699-1617.

Help shape the future of Wilmington’s newest public park.

The city is hosting a public engagement from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on May 2 to gather community input on the park’s design, amenities, and overall vision.

Those who attend the engagement at the MLK Center at 401 S. Eighth St. will have the opportunity to share their ideas directly with project partners and design teams.

Family-friendly activities, games, and food trucks will be available to attendees of the vent 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Design teams at 1 p.m. will provide a brief recap of key themes and feedback shared during the event.

Last March, the city, with funding support from The Endowment and New Hanover County, purchased 25 undeveloped acres off Greenville Loop Road to undertake a project that aligns with Wilmington’s Comprehensive Parks, Recreation + Open Space Master Plan.

The city aims to open the site for public use in five years.

On May 2, the city is launching a digital survey as a way to encourage broader community participation.

The Master Gardener Volunteer Association is hosting is annual native plant sale April 16-19 in Wilmington.

Now in its 39th year, the sale will feature more than 8,000 plant varieties, showcasing native plants that support wildlife populations in southeastern North Carolina and enhance the community’s botanical landscape.

Annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables, azaleas, Japanese maples, and shrubs will be available for selection during the four-day sale, which will run 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday, April 16, through Saturday, April 18, and noon – 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 19.

The sale will be held at the New Hanover County Arboretum and N.C. Cooperative Extension, 6206 Oleander Drive.

The event will host a free seed exchange in the Cooperative Extension’s Plant Clinic. Houseplants will be made available through the Ability Garden, and an expert talk will be held on Japanese maple care and pruning.

Expert guidance will be offered from master gardener volunteers and extension staff on plant selections and they will help with safely and securely transferring plants to vehicles.

Parking and plant carts are limited, so participants are encouraged to carpool and bring their own carts to reduce wait time.

The arboretum will be closed April 13-15 in preparation for the sale.

The inaugural Wilmington Community Science Fest this Saturday aims to bring together the wide array of community science activities offered in the region for people to explore.

Festivalgoers can pop into lectures explaining the concept and importance of citizen science and hear about some of the more popular area projects, such as iNaturalist and eBird, and make the rounds between exhibitors who will explain how to connect with local community science efforts.

The first presentation, from 10:15 until 11:15 a.m., will cover the importance of community science, featuring Katie Kingston, Science Across North Carolina, and Sammy Calderon, who will provide an introduction to using iNaturalist.

The next presentation, held from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., will include Kristen Holloman-Noe, who will present on FrogWatch USA, and Mason Randolph, who will provide an introduction to using eBird.

The final presentation, Journey Through Participatory Sciences, will be held from 12:45 until 1:45 p.m. and feature presenter Dr. Caren Cooper, who will share her firsthand experience in participatory sciences as a researcher and an instructor.

“Knowing that researching opportunities requires time and patience, we hatched the idea of creating one event where interested parties could browse projects and instantly move from wanting to participate straight into registering to participate,” Holloman-Noe, Fort Fisher Aquarium outreach coordinator and FrogWatch USA regional coordinator, stated in a release. “The support and enthusiasm we’ve witnessed in planning this event has truly warmed my heart.”

The festival is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Davis Center in Wilmington Maides Park, 1101 Manly Ave.

The event will include a number other headliners, such as Science Across NC, EcoExplore and Project Explore, Terrapin Talley of the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.C. Audubon shorebird surveys, Cape Fear Audubon and the University of North Carolina Wilmington Marine Mammal Stranding Program.

Volunteers will be there to help direct participants to the projects that interest them most.

Wilmington Community Science Fest is being hosted by the Fort Fisher Aquarium, Valerie Robertson, publisher of Cape Fear’s Going Green, and Savannah Lytle, North Carolina Environmental Education Certification candidate.

The city of Wilmington is hosting an open house on Wednesday to highlight proposed plans to replace a decades-old metal bulkhead along the downtown riverwalk on the Cape Fear River.

The open house is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. in the azalea room of the Skyline Center at 929 N. Front St.

City staff will be on hand to talk about the plan to replace a 59-year-old metal bulkhead near the former Coast Guard Cutter Diligence mooring with a modern “relieving platform.”

The replacement “will provide the same shoreline stabilization in a more environmentally friendly way,” according to a city release.

The city has proactively repaired or replaced large sections of the riverwalk, a project initiated in 1980 and fully completed in November 2017.

The metal bulkhead the city plans to replace has outlived its expected lifespan after sustaining decades of exposure to water, debris, and wave action, according to the city.

The city is applying for a federal Economic Development Administration grant to help fund the project and hopes to draw community support from residents, businesses, and organizations to sign a letter backing that application.

Parking at the Skyline Center is available at 33 Brunswick St.

A state historical marker commemorating the life and accomplishments of Zachariah Jacobs, a free-born African American patriot soldier who served in multiple regiments during the Revolutionary War, will be dedicated next week in downtown Wilmington.

The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker will be dedicated at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the corner of Third and Grace streets in Wilmington.

Jacobs was in his 20s when he was drafted into the Bladen County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia as a private in late 1778.

In only a matter of a few months, Jacobs marched with his regiment through South Carolina into Georgia, where he fought in the Battle of Briar Creek in March 1779.

That battled ended in defeat for the American forces, “and amid the confusion of retreat, Jacobs returned to his home in Brunswick County,” according to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Roughly two years later, in early 1781, he rejoined the militia, serving a nine-month term during which in March of that year he fought in one of the most significant battles in the Southern campaign, the Battle of Guildford Court House.

It was during this battle that Jacobs sustained a wound to one of his legs. After spending time recovering in a hospital, he started his journey home, only to be captured by Loyalist soldiers and taken to British Maj. James Henry Craig in Bladen County.

Craig later paroled Jacobs, who returned briefly returned to civilian life before enlisting for another nine-month term in October 1781 in a North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Line.

In March 1782, under Maj. Michael Rudolph in operations near Charleston, South Carolina, the unit in which Jacob served captured the British galley Alligator on the Ashley River, a move notable for its disruption to British supply lines.

Jacobs spent a majority of that tour stationed at Ashley Hill, after which time he marched to Wilmington and was discharged in December 1782.

He lived out his remaining years in Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

After successfully applying for a federal pension in April 1835, Jacobs received $28.33 semiannually for 17 months of service as a private.

He died April 10, 1847 in New Hanover County. He was 93.

His widow, Sally Jacobs, would later secure a pension in recognition of her late husband’s contributions.

“Jacobs’ story underscores the vital role played by free people of color in the Revolutionary War. His perseverance through multiple enlistments, wounds, captivity, and eventual recognition reflects the broader struggle for liberty that defined the era,” according to NCDNCR.

The Highway Historical Marker Program is a collaboration between the North Carolina departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.

More information about the historical marker is available at https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2026/02/06/zachariah-jacobs-d-125 or by calling (919) 814-6625.

Part of an ongoing series on coastal North Carolina’s observance of America’s 250th.

Tensions began to brew between the colonists and Britain in the early 1760s after the Seven Years War, also called the French and Indian War, in North America. The British decided to impose new taxes on the colonies to recoup the funds that went to the war, but instead incited widespread protest.

Britain passed the Stamp Act March 22, 1765, and then in June 1767, the Townshend Act imposed duties on paint, paper, tea and other commodities. British troops attempted to enforce the Townshend duties in Boston October 1768, ultimately leading in March 1770 to the Boston Massacre that left five dead.

The British, to help the struggling United East India Co., passed the Tea Act in May 1773, allowing the company to import and sell tea to the colonies duty-free, undercutting the Dutch who had been smuggling tea in, and creating a monopoly.

Then, on Nov. 28, 1773, the Dartmouth sails into Boston Harbor, and three more ships were expected to arrive, all carrying chests of tea.

Over the next few weeks, colonists met to figure out a way to fight back. On the night of Dec. 16, 1773, around four dozen men impersonating Native Americans boarded the ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Almost a year later, 51 women in Edenton took a more peaceful approach to protesting the tea tax by drafting a document explaining their boycott. The women committed to no longer drinking tea or wearing British cloth because of taxation without representation and sent the final copy to England.

“This action forms one of the earliest-known political actions written and organized by women in the American colonies,”  the Edenton Historical Commission explains. “The events of the ‘Edenton Tea Party’ today form an iconic moment in our nation’s history, when a community of women used their own voices to stand by their loved ones and risk the wrath of the Crown by protesting injustice.”

The women of Wilmington responded to British taxation with a similar protest in the spring of 1775, though little is known about the gathering to publicly burn tea.

Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens Assistant Museum Director Hunter Ingram told Coastal Review that the Wilmington Tea Party is an oft-overlooked event in the final days before the start of the American Revolution.

In the port city of Wilmington, the import of tea had ground to a halt by the spring of 1775.

The Continental Congress had forbidden tea from coming through the colonies’ ports, so it had become a scarce commodity, he said. That is why events like the Boston Tea Party and the Edenton Tea Party were so crucial to the cause of resistance.

“Tea was hard to come by and sacrificing it sent a message to those who were already hurting from the disruption of its trade,” Ingram continued.

The Wilmington Tea Party happened in the spring of 1775 and is only documented in one place: the writings of Janet Schaw, a Scottish woman who was traveling through Wilmington to visit her brother.

“She wrote a single line about her observations of the tea resistance in Wilmington, which she did not support. ‘The Ladies have burnt their tea in a solemn procession, but they had delayed however ’til the sacrifice was not very considerable, as I do not think anyone offered above a quarter of a pound,’” Ingram said. 

While the simple description doesn’t give many specifics, Schaw was clear in what the protestors did, Ingram said. “Burning the tea was unique, and it meant the women of Wilmington, even in the eleventh hour before the outbreak of war, were willing to set a precious privilege blaze in the name of revolution.”

The Burgwin-Wright House is the oldest and largest historic site in Wilmington, comprised of four of the eight remaining colonial structures in town, Ingram said of the house’s importance during the Revolution.

“We have three buildings from the city’s first jail, circa 1744, and the mansion home built in 1770 on top of the main jail building after the prisoners were relocated. It has sat at the corner of Third and Market streets for 256 years, and it has watched Wilmington grow from small-but-mighty port city into a thriving town that was, for a time, the most populous area in the state,” Ingram explained.

“The colonial era in Wilmington doesn’t always get its due, but the surviving home built for merchant and politician John Burgwin can tell that story –– and has been for generations,” said Ingram.

Ingram explained that that the Burgwin-Wright House had partnered with the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter to commemorate the 251st anniversary of the protest with the “Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk.”

The Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk event begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 26, at 224 Market St. the program will include remarks from a few historic organizations and officials and samples of a brand-new tea blend by Cape Fear Spice Merchants.

“Guests can walk through the gardens, enjoy a presentation about Janet Schaw and then join members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution as they walk, in a solemn procession, to river to burn tea in commemoration of this act of resistance on the eve of revolution,” he said.

The historic home is a good fit for the Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk because the site likely would have been “witness to that solemn procession into history, and the act of resistance that helped give Wilmington a reputation for rebellion even before the war.”

Schaw was also a Loyalist, as was Burgwin, and it’s “likely she would have visited the house during her time in Wilmington. This was a home built for a wealthy guest list, and Janet would have qualified,” he said.

Though the program is offered at no charge, registration is required. Call 910-762-0570 to register.

“If you can’t get in this year, we hope to make it a recurring event through multiyear A250 celebration,” Ingram said, referring to the state’s official celebration of 250 years of independence, America 250 NC, a program under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust plans to buy a sprawling tract of land off one of Wilmington’s busy corridors to convert it into a publicly accessible nature preserve.

The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners on Monday authorized county staff to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with the Coastal Land Trust for an approximately 60-acre tract at 3990 Independence Boulevard.

The organization plans to buy the land, referred to as the Flossie Bryan tract, for $3 million.

Bryan was a longtime Wilmington resident and licensed practical nurse who worked at James Walker Memorial Hospital, which operated for more than 60 years until it closed after New Hanover Regional Medical Center opened its doors in 1967.

Bryan willed the property to the county and asked that it be preserved, offering a natural, undeveloped space for public benefit, according to a Coastal Land Trust release.

“Flossie Bryan left an extraordinary gift to this community, and we take that trust seriously,” Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks stated in the release. “This property sits in the middle of one of the fastest-growing residential corridors in New Hanover County. Protecting it permanently as a nature preserve means generations of Wilmington residents will have access to irreplaceable green space, right where they live. We are grateful to the Board of Commissioners for their partnership on this property, and for their vision and foresight in securing full ownership of the property in 2025, which created the opportunity to ensure its long-term conservation.”

The Coastal Land Trust aims to work with county staff to finalize a purchase and sale agreement, with closing proposed to occur on or before Dec. 31, 2027.

Commissioners will review the sale agreement before final approval.

Within the tract are more than seven acres of mature longleaf pine forest, among the few remaining unprotected longleaf pine savanna habitats in New Hanover County. And, there are more than 20 acres slated for longleaf pine restoration.

Natural freshwater wetlands and headwater tributaries of Barnards Creek are also on the property.

Once under the Coastal Land Trust’s ownership, the preserve will be developed in phases to include a parking area and natural train system, which will be largely unpaved, designed for nature-first recreation and outdoor learning, and will incorporate Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible areas.

Coastal Land Trust’s longer-term plans for the property include an onsite environmental education facility.

“The Flossie Bryan tract offers a rare opportunity to protect and restore one of the most ecologically important habitat types in our region, in the county with the highest population density along the North Carolina coastal plain,” Kenneth Lingerfelt, Coastal Land Trust director of land protection said in a release. “Conserving this property means protecting water quality in the Barnards Creek watershed and ensuring that this irreplaceable longleaf pine habitat is never lost.”

The Coastal Land Trust plans to launch a public and private fundraising campaign to raise the $3 million needed to buy the tract.

The Coastal Land Trust has created and manages a number of nature preserves across eastern North Carolina, including Brunswick Nature Park, the Latham-Whitehurst Nature Park in Craven County, Brice’s Creek Nature Preserve in New Bern, and Springer’s Point Preserve on Ocracoke Island. The organization also manages the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden in Wilmington in partnership with the city.

Whether its a nature hike, a stormwater tour at North Carolina’s premiere coastal university, or helping a town’s staff permanently mark storm drains, there’s something for nearly everyone during Cape Fear Creek Week.

Creek Week kicks off on Sunday and goes through March 21, offering opportunities to connect with, celebrate, and care for local waterways of the Cape Fear Region.

Throughout the week, participants are invited to play Cape Fear Creek Week virtual bingo by completing activities for a chance to win a swag bag.

The events lineup starts Sunday with a birding walk from 10-11 a.m. in Leland, where participants will be given tips on how to identify local and migrating birds. Registration for this event is through the town of Leland.

On Monday, gather beneath cypress trees in Wallace Park at 2110 Market St. in Wilmington for a scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. The Alliance for Cape Fear Trees will have resources on hand to share tips on how to properly plant and care for trees.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is hosting that afternoon a behind-the-scenes tour of its stormwater-control measures, including rain gardens, permeable pavement systems and other sustainable features that reduce runoff and support healthier waterways. This event will be held 2-3 p.m. Monday at 4935 Riegel Road. Registration is required.

On Monday evening, discover ways to diagnose and restore wetland habitats through Habitat Fixer Uppers with Fort Fisher Aquarium, a program scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. at 1212 Magnolia Village Way in Leland. You may register here.

Tuesday, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will host a tour of its Southside Water Reclamation Facility, 3436 River Road in Wilmington. Registered participants must be age 5 or older.

Events for Wednesday include a bird hike at Burnt Mill Creek 8-9:30 a.m., an opportunity to work alongside employees of Leland’s engineering department 4-5:30 p.m. to permanently mark the town’s storm drains, a children’s scavenger hunt 5-6 p.m. at Cypress Cover Park in Leland, and resilient coastal communities program public meeting drop in between 5p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Skyline Center in downtown Wilmington.

Events later in the week include a golden hour guided tour by paddleboat in Greenfield Lake Park, a walking tour at Pages Creek, a sustainability brewery tour at Mad Mole Brewing (for those 21 and older), a Brunswick Nature Park tour in Winnabow, and a cleanup at Greenfield Lake Park.

Details, including all dates, times and locations, are available on the N.C. Cooperative Extension website.

Cape Fear Creek Week is a collaboration between the N.C. Cooperative Extension, Wilmington’s Heal our Waterways, Leland, Cape Fear River Watch, New Hanover County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, Coastal Land Trust, Cape Fear Birding Observatory, Plastic Ocean Project, Mad Mole Brewery, UNCW Sustainability, and Alliance for Cape Fear Trees.

Alliance for Cape Fear Trees is hosting its next tree giveaway in Leland on Saturday.

The Wilmington-based nonprofit will be giving away 1,000 native trees at the event, which is scheduled from 9 a.m. until noon, while supplies last, at the Leland Cultural Arts Center, 1212 Magnolia Village Way.

Tree stewards and arborists will be available to help people choose trees best suited for their properties. There is a limit of two trees per household.

Available trees species will include Satyr Hill American holly, persimmon, flowering dogwood, Dura Heat river birch, blackgum, Princeton American elm, white oak, and southern live oak.

Saturday’s tree giveaway is being sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and Enterprise Mobility.

The Carolinas chapter of ocean advocacy organization Oceana invite the public to join “a night of whales and ales” Wednesday, March 25, in Wilmington.

Connect with the experts leading the charge for North Atlantic right whale conservation at the event set for 6-7:30 p.m. at Azalea Station, 1502 Castle St.

Related: NOAA Fisheries considers changing right whale protections

The session will include discussion of how the vessel speed rule is transforming the landscape for their survival.

Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP online by March 23, as the venue can accommodate only about 30 guests.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission has scheduled a series of public hearings in select cities beginning next month on proposed PFAS and 1,4-dioxane monitoring and minimization rules.

In all, six hearings have been set, three of which will focus on proposed rules for discharges of three per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances through wastewater into North Carolina’s surface waters and three on proposed rules for monitoring and minimizing 1,4-dioxane in wastewater discharges from certain facilities into surface waters.

A public comment period for each set of proposed rules will kick off on March 16 and continue until June 15.

Under the proposed PFAS rules, all major and minor industrial direct dischargers, and significant industrial users that discharge to publicly owned treatment works, would be required to monitor and implement “minimization activities required to eliminate or significantly reduce” discharges of PFOS, PFOA, and GenX within a period of anywhere between three and five years.

Discharge limits for those specific PFAS have yet to be determined.

PFAS exposure has been linked to a number of adverse health impacts to people, including thyroid disease, increased cholesterol, liver damage, and different types of cancers.

More than 3 million North Carolinians are estimated to drink tap water containing PFAS levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health-based standard scheduled to go into effect in the coming years, according to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Public hearings on the proposed rules for the three PFAS are scheduled as follows:

• April 7 at 6 p.m. in Ferguson Auditorium, AB-Tech Community College, 19 Tech Drive, Asheville.
• April 20 at 6 p.m. in the Archdale Building, ground floor hearing room, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh. Public parking will be available after 5 p.m. at parking deck 64 across North Salisbury Street from the Archdale Building.
• April 23 at 6 p.m. in Wilmington City Hall at Skyline Center, first floor conference center, 929 North Front St., Wilmington. Parking is available in the south lot using the Brunswick Street entrance. Attendees requiring American with Disabilities Act access should park in the visitor lot.

Written comments are being accepted by email to publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with the subject title “PFAS minimization” or by mail to Karen Preston, DEQ-DWR NPDES Permitting Section, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617.

Comments will be accepted on the proposed rule adoptions and associated regulatory impact analysis. The commission is also accepting comments on specific questions including:

• Whether it would be scientifically defensible and advisable to establish a screening threshold above the lowest reporting concentration for PFOS, PFOA and GenX that could serve as a trigger for ongoing monitoring and minimization requirements.
• Whether the applicability of the PFAS monitoring and minimization rule should be limited to industrial dischargers associated with a standard industry classification (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes known to be linked to PFAS use or discharge.

Hearings on proposed rules for monitoring and minimizing 1,4-dioxane, a federally deemed likely human carcinogen, in wastewater discharges into surface waters from certain facilities have been scheduled for the following dates:

• April 9 at 6 p.m. in the Catawba County St. Stephens Branch Library, 3225 Springs Road, Hickory.
• April 14 at 6 p.m. at Fayetteville Technology Community College, Tony Rand Student Center multipurpose room, 2220 Hull Road, Fayetteville.
• May 12 at 6 p.m. in the Percy H. Sears Applied Technologies Building Auditorium, Guilford Technical Community College, 1201 Bonner Drive, Jamestown.

Written comments on the proposed rules for 1,4-dixoane may be submitted via email to publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with the subject heading “1,4-dioxane minimization,” or by mail to Bridget Shelton, DEQ-DWR Planning Section, 1611 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1611.

The EMC will also be accepting specific comments on the proposed 1,4-dixoane minimization rules to include:

• Whether a screening threshold above the lowest reported concentration (currently 1 microgram per liter) for 1,4-dioxane would be appropriate as a trigger for ongoing monitoring and minimization planning.
• whether the applicability of the 1,4-dioxane monitoring and minimization rules should be expanded beyond the currently proposed scope of dischargers with certain standard industry classification or North American Industry Classification System codes to include all industrial dischargers.

Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5 p.m. at each of the hearings.

Based on attendance, speaking time may be limited to allow everyone an opportunity to be heard. The commission will accept written comments and copies of prepared remarks at each hearing.

The Stamp Defiance Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is planning to dedicate a plaque later this month to commemorate the country’s “Forgotten Patriots of the American Revolution.”

The Wilmington-based group has scheduled the ceremony, part of the nationwide commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary, for 10 a.m. Friday, March 20, at USS North Carolina’s Battleship Park in Wilmington.

Speakers include USS North Carolina Director Dr. Jay Martin. The Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard will present the Colors. The Eugene Ashley High School’s NJROTC will serve as Honor Guard and lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Tryon Palace Fife and Drum Corps will perform traditional 18th-century military tunes. A reception will follow the ceremony.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has partnered with America250, the nationwide initiative led by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. America250 NC, North Carolina’s 250th commemoration, is a program under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

When the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, Wilmington residents showed their opposition with protests and militia actions, causing the resignation of the distributor of stamps and two other crown officers. As a result, the Stamp Act of 1765 was never enforced. In September 1921, the Stamp Defiance Chapter formed in Wilmington, and was named after those who opposed the act, according to the chapter’s website.

Cape Fear River Watch’s seminar series on Saturday will feature the principal investigator of the GenX exposure study.

Dr. Jane Hoppin, a professor at North Carolina State University, will provide a summary of the study’s findings to-date and discuss future plans for the project.

The study began in 2017 after residents in Wilmington were informed through a newspaper report that an upstream chemical manufacturing plant had, for decades, been discharging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, including GenX, into their drinking water source, the Cape Fear River.

The study, which measures the blood levels of PFAS in Wilmington residents, has evolved into a long-term health project with more than 1,000 participants throughout the Cape Fear River Basin.

Cape Fear River Watch hosts its seminar series the first Saturday of each month.

The free event is being held at Cape Fear River Watch’s headquarters at 617 Surry St., Wilmington.

Those interested in attending are encouraged to arrive early to secure a seat. Complimentary pancakes and coffee will be served.

Gov. Josh Stein and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson made a visit Thursday to Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant in Wilmington to formally announce a $17.8 million grant from the state to support the replacement and capacity upgrade of the utility’s Southside Water Reclamation Facility.

The funds will be used to extend waterlines to connect more than 300 homes with contaminated wells to the utility’s supply of drinking water.

The governor’s office first announced Feb. 19 the nearly $18 million grant, which is coming out of more than $472 million for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

“The $472 million statewide investment through NCDEQ will help cities, towns and counties strengthen infrastructure to better withstand future storms, improve existing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, reduce contamination by forever chemicals, and identify and replace lead pipes,” according to the press release.

A list of all the projects selected for funding is on the NCDEQ website.

“When families turn on the tap, they deserve to know that their water is clean and safe,” Stein said in an announcement. “This $17 million investment in Wilmington will protect more than 300 families from forever chemicals by connecting their homes to the public water supply. We’ve made historic commitments to upgrade water infrastructure across North Carolina because keeping North Carolinians healthy starts with reliable, resilient water systems.”

The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will receive the funds through the Department of Environmental Quality’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities program, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The $17.8 million funding to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority brings DEQ’s total support for the Southside Replacement Project to $192.8 million.

“People who live in the Cape Fear River Basin are rightly concerned about high levels of forever chemicals like GenX and PFAS in their drinking water,” Wilson said. “The Department of Environmental Quality remains committed to doing everything we can to reduce exposure to these harmful chemicals so that families can trust that the water coming out of their tap is healthy and safe.”

In the parts of New Hanover County served by these waterline extension projects, more than 75% of sampled wells exceeded health-based drinking water standards for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS is a group of thousands of human-made, persistent chemicals that have been used for decades to make heat, water, and stain-resistant products.

“Since CFPUA brought new filters online at our Sweeney Plant in 2022, we have been able to effectively remove GenX and other PFAS from our public drinking water,” utility Board Chairman Wesley P. Corder said. “We are very grateful for this support from Governor Stein’s Office and the Department of Environmental Quality, which will enable us to connect more families in our community to CFPUA’s clean, clearly better water.”

Since taking office, Stein has advanced more than $1.4 billion in water infrastructure projects to strengthen drinking water and wastewater systems and address PFAS and other contaminants.

Last week, the Governor traveled to Winston-Salem to join the 40th annual Emerging Issues Forum, where he discussed the importance of sustained investment in North Carolina’s water infrastructure.

Related: Population growth to impact water infrastructure: Forum

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management has objected to the proposed Wilmington Harbor project, concluding that a federal study of the plan is too scant on details and that, as presented, deepening and widening the channel would have “significant adverse impacts to coastal resources.”

The Army Corps of Engineers’ review lacks an evaluation of PFAS in the sediment in the lower Cape Fear River, fails to adequately assess cumulative flooding impacts or thoroughly detail areas where dredged material would be placed, and does not sufficiently account for potential effects on fisheries habitat, freshwater wetlands, shorelines, or state, historic and other properties along the river, the division concluded.

The draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, the Corps released last September also falls short in analyzing the project’s economic benefits and evaluating “potential economic losses associated with environmental degradation,” Division of Coastal Management Director Tancred Miller wrote to the Corps’ Wilmington District in a 15-page letter dated Feb. 24.

A Corps spokesman, in a statement Wednesday, called the state’s objection “disappointing” and highlighted what the Corps describes as offering “numerous opportunities” to engage with the public and work with state and federal agencies.

The Corps “felt we had been working hand in hand with all our State and Federal partners and resource agencies since we began coordination regarding this project nearly 3.5 years ago,” Jed Cayton, a public affairs specialist with Wilmington District, said in an email. “Given all the integration and engagement throughout this process, the objection provided at this late stage in the process is disconcerting.”

The Corps and North Carolina State Ports Authority are reviewing the division’s letter “to determine how we will proceed,” Cayton said. “Since we are very early in this review, we cannot yet give a specific date for completion.”

The Corps may pause the project and work with the state to try and resolve the state’s concerns or initiate a formal dispute resolution process.

The division’s objection comes a little more than a month after the division granted the Corps’ request to pause its review of whether the proposed project was consistent with state coastal management program laws, regulations and policies.

Miller wrote that, during that pause, the division “detailed its concerns along with possible paths forward to address the information deficiencies.”

On Feb. 16, the Corps asked the division in an email to resume its review of the project, one that has been highly scrutinized for its potential effects to the environment, shorelines and historic and culturally significant areas along the shores of the lower Cape Fear River.

“Our objection was based on a combination of lack of sufficient information to determine the impacts from PFAS and flooding and anticipated significant adverse impacts to fisheries resources, wildlife habitat and cultural and historic resources,” Miller told the Coastal Resources Commission during its meeting Wednesday in Atlantic Beach.

In his letter, Miller wrote that the lack of information regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances was “of particular concern.”

“The DEIS does not evaluate the potential for contaminant resuspension during dredging and the resulting fate and transport of these chemicals into nearby water bodies and land areas,” the letter states. “This is of particular concern since extensive scientific research has documented the presence and persistence of PFAS over the past decade within the [Cape Fear River Basin], including a growing body of research indicating significant negative ecological implications of PFAS in fish, birds, and reptiles.”

The proposal calls for extending the entrance of the federal navigation channel farther offshore, deepening the channel by 5 feet and widening portions of it from the mouth of the Cape Fear River more than 25 miles to the Wilmington port.

The ports authority says the project is needed to accommodate larger ships, which will attract more import and export business to the port, ease shipping congestion on the East Coast and keep the state’s ports competitive.

But opponents of the proposed project argue it will accelerate erosion and exacerbate flooding, destroy habitat, disperse PFAS in the riverbed’s sediment into marshes and onto public beaches, is not economically justified, and threatens historic and cultural resources along the river.

One such historic site is Orton, a privately owned property that spans some 14,000 acres off the lower Cape Fear River’s western bank in Brunswick County and that includes a former plantation.

Orton owner Louis Bacon has spent millions restoring an expansive rice field system and earthen dike that enslaved Africans built more than two centuries ago to protect the rice fields from the river.

In a statement to Coastal Review on Wednesday, Bacon said the Division of Coastal Management’s objection to the proposed harbor project, “is proof that facts and persistence matter.”

“My concern has always been simple: this project, as proposed, puts undue and unacceptable risk on important historical and ecological sites,” Bacon stated. “The corps has not provided the analysis or safeguards the law requires. At Orton, dredging so close to a 250-year-old earthen dike creates a very real risk of catastrophic failure according to two separate expert firms – collapsing and flooding 350 acres of freshwater rice fields and exceptional wetlands with Atlantic saltwater, thereby eradicating the legacy of enslaved African Americans who built these systems over centuries, a monument to their efforts that I have spent years restoring.

“My objection is rooted in the fact that the project cannot be considered ‘consistent’ with North Carolina’s coastal protections if it causes this much damage,” he continued. “Large infrastructure decisions must be grounded in rigorous scientific evaluations, transparent disclosure, and enforceable protections, because these valuable resources cannot be rebuilt once lost.”

Several towns in Brunswick and New Hanover counties have adopted resolutions urging state and federal agencies to protect a series of islands within the lower Cape Fear River that support 30% of the state’s coastal shorebird population. Those towns have also asked for the creation of a comprehensive, long-term, and fully funded environmental and adaptive management plan to cover costs related to monitoring and mitigation to prevent and repair environmental harm.

Last month, the Wilmington City Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for state and federal decision makers to further review the proposed project.

In his letter, Miller noted that an overwhelming majority of the written comments the division received last year regarding the proposed project opposed it. And everyone who spoke at a public hearing the division hosted in downtown Wilmington last November opposed the project.

Kerri Allen, coastal management program director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, was one of the 72 people who expressed their concerns about the proposed project at that meeting.

“I’m encouraged to see DCM thoughtfully consider the many strong public comments submitted on this project,” Allen said in an email on Wednesday. “The level of engagement from coastal residents, local leaders, and partners shows how much people care, and it matters when that input is reflected in decisions. Our public trust waters belong to everyone, and transparent review like this helps lead to better, more resilient outcomes for our coast.”

Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Ramona McGee echoed similar sentiments in a release Wednesday.

“This decision is welcome news for the people of Wilmington and beyond who cherish the lower Cape Fear River and its surrounding natural areas,” McGee stated. “This $1.3 billion project would put at risk the communities and wildlife that call this region home by exacerbating flooding, destroying habitat, and damaging wetlands. The Lower Cape Fear is already threatened by sea-level rise and industrial pollution – we shouldn’t be further damaging this special place with an unnecessary and costly project.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Kerri Allen is among the newest recipients of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Alumni Association Distinguished Awards.

The program, which honors graduates whose exceptional accomplishments, integrity and service have made a lasting impact on the university and broader community, will recognize awardees during homecoming festivities set for Feb. 9-15. A formal celebration is scheduled for June.

Allen, who graduated from UNCW with her bachelor’s in geosciences in 2011 and her master’s in 2013 in coastal geology, was selected as the “Distinguished Citizen of the Year.” She is being honored along with Trevor Todd, class of 2016, for “Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year,” and Edward A. “Ed” Sundy Jr. class of 1973, for “Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.”

“Ed, Trevor, and Kerri remind us of what it truly means to be a Seahawk. They each use their talents to lift others—whether through education, environmental stewardship, or service to communities across our region,” UNCW Alumni Association Executive Director Lindsay A.T. LeRoy said in a statement. “Their dedication reflects the heart of UNCW’s mission: empowering people to create positive, lasting change. I’m incredibly proud to celebrate alumni whose impact reaches far beyond our campus.”

Allen is “a coastal advocate, scientist and community leader whose work has transformed environmental policy and conservation efforts across North Carolina,” according to information the university provided.

As Coastal Federation’s coastal management program director, Allen works with state and federal agencies, the General Assembly, scientists, businesses and residents to advance policy solutions that protect and restore the state’s coast. She has helped guide statewide initiatives addressing emerging contaminants, marine debris, living shorelines, and oyster habitat restoration. She recently helped lead the effort that made North Carolina the first state in the nation to ban unencapsulated polystyrene in floating docks.

She served as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hollings Scholar in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Her early career included research in coastal hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and climate education, and she spent time as the education manager at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Florida.

Allen serves on several advisory boards, including the UNCW Earth and Ocean Sciences Advisory Board, N.C. State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues, and multiple N.C. Department of Environmental Quality river basin committees. Allen helped lead We the Water, a 340-mile paddling initiative to raise awareness of water quality and environmental stewardship that generated more than $50,000 for conservation efforts.

Her leadership and impact have been recognized through honors such as the Pelican Award, Bill Petit Award and Wilmington’s 40 Under 40.  

Todd teaches third grade at Castle Hayne Elementary School, and has been awarded both the New Hanover County Schools Elementary Educator of the Year Award for 2020-2021 and the 2020 National University Teacher Award for North Carolina.

Todd volunteers for the children’s and youth ministry at Scotts Hill Baptist Church. He has served on the North Carolina Azalea Festival’s Parade Committee since 2016. Todd earned the 2022 Wilmington’s 40 Under 40 Award for the significant impact both inside and outside the classroom.

Todd is a member of the Clocktower Society and serves as a Watson College of Education representative to the UNCW Alumni Board of Directors and a partnership teacher.

Sundy, a mathematics major with a business minor, has been with Reeds Jewelers since graduating more than 40 years ago. He rose through the organization and helped launch the company’s first mall store in Myrtle Beach. He earned the Roberta Zimmer Award in 2015 in recognition of his leadership philosophy and positive impact on colleagues and customers.

For more than 30 years he has helped with disaster response and humanitarian aid by leading volunteer teams in cleanup, demolition, rebuilding and long-term recovery efforts after storms and major flooding events. Sundy spent two decades leading youth mission teams in impoverished communities, repairing homes and mentoring young volunteers. In 2019 he became site manager for the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Disaster Response Team. He is a member of the Golden Wing Society, and the Clocktower Society.

Coastal Review is published by the Coastal Federation.

Show Mother Earth some love this Valentine’s Day by gifting her a freshly planted tree.

Alliance for Cape Fear Trees will be giving away more than 1,000 native trees Saturday, Feb. 14, at D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy in Wilmington’s Northside community.

Northside residents and families of students who attend D.C. Virgo, DREAMS of Wilmington, Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern N.C., and Dorothy B. Johnson Pre-K will get first dibs on a selection of nearly a dozen different species of trees beginning at 9 a.m.

The event will open to the general public from 11 a.m. – noon. Trees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Available tree species will include southern live oak, overcup oak, bald cypress, blackgum, longleaf pine, sweetbay magnolia, eastern redbud, sourwood, American hornbeam, pawpaw, and persimmon.

The North Carolina Forest Service will be conducting a controlled burn of about 30 acres within the nature preserve of a popular Wilmington park.

The burn is part of an ongoing effort to restore longleaf pine in Halyburton Park and will be conducted between January and early March, weather permitting, according to a city notice.

“The controlled burn is designed to promote longleaf pine and wiregrass — both fire-dependent species — reduce the risk of future wildfires, and improve habitat for wildlife,” according to the notice.

Funding for the restoration project comes through a 2024 Longleaf Stewardship grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Halyburton Park is a recognized North Carolina Natural Heritage site.

Message boards will be placed along 17th Street in Wilmington to alert the public prior to the burn.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, is launching a leadership and professional development program focused on coastal issues.

The cohort-based Coastal Leadership Institute is designed for individuals who play leadership roles in coastal North Carolina communities, as well as leaders from across the state whose work influences the coast.

The institute is designed as a six-month program with two full-day sessions per month beginning in March. The cohort size is limited to about 20–25 participants. Registration is now open for the inaugural class.

“The Coastal Federation has established a strong reputation as a convener of people and organizations interested in protecting and restoring the coast,” said Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis, “so the launch of this new Institute is a natural fit for us and will be important to advancing our mission.”

Through facilitated discussions, expert-led sessions, and site-based learning, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the forces shaping coastal communities, examined through economic, environmental, natural, and cultural history lenses, while building strong professional relationships that support effective leadership in complex coastal settings, institute organizers said.

“Coastal issues rarely have simple solutions,” said Coastal Federation Chief Community Engagement Officer Amanda Lyle. “By bringing together leaders from different communities and sectors, the Institute creates space for shared learning and helps build the capacity for informed decision-making.”

The tuition of $1,000 per participant covers program materials, meals, transportation for site visits, lodging, and alumni programming access. Scholarships are available.

The six sessions will convene in March, April, May, September, October, and November, with a summer break.

An orientation is set for March 9-10 in Beaufort. This session will also explore how the cultural, historical, and ecological context of coastal North Carolina factor into the region’s identity, challenges, and leadership needs.

Subsequent sessions will cover coastal and marine sciences, growth and economic development, coastal policy and management issues, and natural resource conservation and restoration. This year, sessions will primarily take place in Carteret County and the Wilmington area.

The program is intended to become an annual offering that brings together emerging and established leaders from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including business, local and regional government, military, education, nonprofit, and industry.

The Institute is geared to create a space for thoughtful dialogue, practical learning, and a trusted peer network that continues well beyond the program.

 “We really couldn’t do this without our partners and supporters – the many individuals and organizations who have committed to sharing their expertise, insights, resources and time with the participants and to helping create new professional connections for the betterment of our coast,” Davis added.

The inaugural Coastal Leadership Institute cohort is partially subsidized through the support of the Duke Energy Foundation, the Carlyle Adams Foundation, and the RBC Foundation.

More details and the application are online.

More than a dozen species of trees are expected to be available at this year’s annual TreeFest in Wilmington.

The event, now in its 28th year, will be held 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Jan. 16-17, or until inventory runs out, at JCPenney’s atrium, Independence Mall, 3500 Oleander Drive.

Households may select up to five bare-root tree seedlings or native bunch grass plugs.

A $5 donation per household is encouraged and will be used to fund the return of TreeFest in 2027.

Experts will be available to assist with plant selection and provide care advice based on individual site conditions, space, and utility lines.

Visitors are encouraged to bring their own bags or buckets to reduce plastic waste.

The TreeFest committee expects to receive from the North Carolina Forest Service’s Claridge Forestry Nursery near Goldsboro a variety of species, including longlead pine, bald cypress, chickasaw plum, buttonbush, red maple, river birch, flowering dogwood, silky dogwood, southern wax myrtle, sugarberry, eastern redbud, crabapple, and coastal white oak.

More than 180,000 trees and grasses have been funded through donations since TreeFest’s inception in 1997 to restore tree populations after hurricanes Bertha and Fran.

The event is held in an effort to rebuild tree canopy in New Hanover County and neighboring counties.

For residents of other counties or to get additional plants, seedlings may also be purchased directly from the Forest Service nursery by calling 1-888-NCTREES (628-7337) or from the online forestry store. They may also be ordered through any Forest Service office.

Cape Fear River Watch is kicking off its First Saturday Seminar series for the New Year with a discussion about the potential impacts of a Piedmont town’s request to permanently pull millions of gallons of water a day from the Cape Fear River.

Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Executive Director Kenneth Waldroup will discuss how Fuquay-Varina’s request to transfer 6.17 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River Basin to the Neuse River Basin could impact the region, and how local leaders are responding.

An update on major CFPUA projects, including the Southside Water Reclamation Facility, will also be provided.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. Jan. 3 with a pancake breakfast, following by the presentation at 9 a.m. at 617 Surry St., Wilmington.

Those interested in attending the seminar are encouraged to arrive early as seating is limited.

Cape Fear River Watch will have postcards available at the seminar for anyone who is interested in writing comments about Fuquay-Varina’s proposal.

The organization will send those postcards to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, which is accepting public comments on the proposal through April 1.

Comments may be submitted to Maya Holcomb, Division of Water Resources, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC, 27604, or by email to maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov.

This post has been updated to include neighboring counties.

New Hanover residents without residential trash and yard waste pick-up through the city of Wilmington can recycle their Christmas trees and other natural decorations at no charge starting Dec. 26.

The program that ends Jan. 31 is a joint effort of the county’s Recycling and Solid Waste Department, the City of Wilmington Sanitation Department and Home Depot stores located at 5511 Carolina Beach Road and 210 Eastwood Road.

All natural trees, wreaths and garlands with the lights, ornaments, stands and tinsel removed can be dropped of at either of the Home Depots or the New Hanover County Landfill, 5210 US Highway 421 North. Artificial trees or decorations will not be accepted.

Residents are asked to stack items intended for recycling neatly due to limited space at these drop-off sites. Those using this service will see fenced-in areas in The Home Depots parking lots, with signage directing them to drop-off points.

“Seeing homes decked out in beautiful décor is a wonderful thing during this festive time of year, but once the holiday season ends, it’s important to dispose of natural décor in a responsible and environmentally safe manner,” Recycling and Solid Waste Director Joe Suleyman said in a release. “We’re excited to continue this partnership with the City of Wilmington and our local The Home Depot stores, which allows living Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands to be recycled and converted into mulch and compost. This material will be used in our parks, gardens and grounds, helping reduce waste and keeping our environment clean.”

In addition to trees and wreaths, residents are reminded that other holiday materials such as gift wrap, paper or cardboard boxes, holiday cards, old gadgets and electronics can be recycled at the county’s recycling processing facility, drop-off sites throughout the community or via the Mobile Hazwagon.

At this time, string lights, tinsel, foam packaging, bubble wrap, and ribbons or bows cannot be recycled and should either be reused or placed in the trash. 

Learn more at Recycling.NHCgov.com or by calling 910-798-4400, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Those living within the Wilmington city limits can learn more about recycling services and accepted items online.

The Brunswick County Landfill in Bolivia will accept live Christmas trees free of charge to Brunswick County property owners and residents Jan. 2-31.

Brunswick County Convenience Centers will accept live Christmas trees in January at a charge of $5 per tree.

Normal tipping fees will be applied after Jan. 31.

Residents are reminded to remove all ornaments, lights, and decorations prior to disposal. The county landfill and convenience centers accept string lights and cords year-round at no charge to Brunswick property owners and residents as part of the electronics recycling program.

Oak Island’s annual “Grinding of the Greens” program will kick off Dec. 26, when residents can drop off live, free-of-decorations Christmas trees in the Middleton Park Complex parking lot at 4610 E Dolphin Dr.

The program runs through Jan. 16.

Town officials are reminding residents and visitors that placing live Christmas trees on the beach and beach dunes, and burning Christmas trees as part of beach bonfires, is prohibited.

Pender County is not offering Christmas tree disposal at its convenience sites.

Property owners there may contact Wilmington Compost Company at 7336 N.C. 210 in Rocky Point and Hampstead Mulch and Stone at 12981 U.S. 17 in Hampstead for disposal details.

Coastal Review will not publish Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in observance of the Christmas holiday.

New Hanover County commissioners have approved the purchase of more than 28 acres along the Cape Fear River’s western bank across from downtown Wilmington.

Commissioners on Monday afternoon unanimously agreed to the $2.24 million land deal, one that includes two undeveloped tracts that will remain preserved once under county ownership.

The purchase signals the county’s commitment to protect land along the western bank, which has in the past several years been eyed by developers who have come to the county with proposals to build a hotel and spa and a luxury high-rise condominium complex.

All that remains before the purchase is finalized are the results of soil and groundwater samples taken on one of the properties where an oil storage facility was operated for roughly a decade until the mid- to late 1990s.

Soil found to have been contaminated by fuel leaks in an area of the 17.13-acre tract west of U.S. 421 was excavated more than a decade ago and stacked on the property, where it is being remediated onsite in bioreactors. A 2007 environmental study of the site concluded that contamination was not flowing into the river.

The county expects to receive the results of the latest soil and groundwater samples no later than next week. County staff have indicated they do not expect the results to give them cause for concern.

“We have heard the public tell us repeatedly how important preservation is in our community,” Commission Vice-Chair Dane Scalise said Monday. “This is another example of us doing it.”

He pointed out that County Manager Chris Coudriet recently emailed commissioners saying that, if they moved forward with the purchase, the county will have acquired more than 100 acres for preservation within the past seven months.

“We have heard the community over and over again tell us that they want preservation and particularly in that area and we are committed to doing that,” Commission Chair LeAnn Pierce said. “That is something that we’ve pivoted on and we have decided that that is what we want to do is preserve open space and green space and mitigate some of the building that’s going on in New Hanover County. And this is the only way we can do it is by buying that property when it becomes available to us.”

The latest purchase also includes an 11.42-acre riverfront tract just north of Point Peter, an undeveloped area that was a few years ago the subject of a highly controversial proposed development.

Look back: New Hanover Board denies new zoning district

Point Peter is a plot at the confluence of the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers along an area already feeling the effects of sea level rise.

Environmental, historical and cultural preservation groups, and community members banded together in opposing a request by developers to rezone roughly 8 acres so that they could move forward with plans to build a complex of three high-rise condominiums overlooking the river and adjacent downtown Wilmington.

Commissioners ultimately denied the rezoning request in late 2021 and pursued revising an amendment to the county’s 2016 comprehensive land use plan to create a new conservation “placetype” specifically for the western bank at the confluence of the rivers. “Placetype” is a planning term used to describe the mix of compatible uses within an area.

The riverfront tract at 1450 Point Harbor Road that the county intends to buy includes a little more than six acres within the Cape Fear River waterline.

The plot was once used as a railroad terminal yard. The land has not been identified as having known environmental conditions by any regulatory agency, according to county staff.

The tract across the highway at 1209 N. U.S. 421, is adjacent to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office’s target shooting range. This property would prevent encroachment to the shooting range and provide river access for the sheriff office’s marine unit.

Funding to buy the tracts will be pulled from reserves from the county’s revenue stabilization fund, which will be replenished through annual reimbursements of $266,130 from the county’s general fund for the next 10 years.

The purchase is expected to be complete by Dec. 31.

A Piedmont town’s request to permanently pull millions of gallons of water a day from the Cape Fear River would raise the risk of water shortages during periods of drought, undercut utilities’ ability to keep up with growing demand, and result in higher levels of contamination in the raw drinking water source for downstream communities, opponents of the plan say.

Of the dozen people who spoke Tuesday night during a public hearing in Raleigh, none supported Fuquay-Varina’s call for transferring 6.17 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River Basin to the Neuse River Basin to meet that town’s projected water demands.

Similar opposition was expressed during a hearing held in Fayetteville last week by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission and the state Division of Water Resources. A third hearing was scheduled to be held Thursday in Pittsboro.

Both elected officials and heads of public utilities in the lower Cape Fear region on Tuesday continued pressing the commission and division to host a public hearing in that area.

“None of the hearings for the Fuquay-Varina request are being held in the lower Cape Fear region, even though our communities will feel the downstream impacts,” said New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple. “Residents in the city of Wilmington and the counties of New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender would have to spend four to five hours on the road just to attend the public hearing. Most residents simply cannot do that. Holding a hearing in the lower Cape Fear region in Wilmington would reduce frustration, encourage public trust, and allow our communities to be hearing in a constructive manner.”

As of Wednesday, more than 20 counties, municipalities, environmental organizations, businesses and drinking water providers have adopted resolutions opposing Fuquay-Varina’s request for an interbasin transfer certificate, or IBT.

Officials in Fuquay-Varina, which is about 30 miles south of Raleigh, project that the amount of water the town currently buys from the capital city, and Harnett and Johnston counties will fall short of demand by 2030.

Under the proposed preferred alternative identified in a draft environmental impact statement for the IBT, the town would source its entire water supply from a water treatment plant in Sanford, which is in the Cape Fear River Basin.

Once water pulled from the Cape Fear River is used by residents and businesses within the town, the treated wastewater would be discharged into the Neuse River Basin. This would permanently subtract more than 6 million gallons each day from the river flow that currently sources more than 500,000 residents with drinking water.

“We have absolutely no problem with Fuquay-Varina wanting to continue with their development,” Zapple said. “But if you take the water, just return it. That’s all. That’s the way the system works. And, if it costs more, well maybe that’s the price of doing business. We need our development down in the lower Cape Fear region as well and we can’t afford to lose 6.17 million gallons a day.”

The Cape Fear River is Brunswick County’s “primary and only reliable water source,” said Christopher Giesting, Brunswick County Public Utilities deputy director of water operations.

The utility supplies drinking water to 19 municipalities and serves more than 350,000 residents and seasonal visitors.

Giesting said that Brunswick County has invested more than $183 million to expand its Northwest Water Treatment Plant and upgrade to a reverse osmosis system designed to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, discharged into the river by upstream polluters.

“These investments were made with the expectation that the full safe yield of the Cape Fear River at the intake would remain available,” he said. “Any IBT that removes water without returning it means that safe yield volume is reduced, ultimately making these major infrastructure investments unable to function as planned and designed. Our county alone has more than 50,000 planned housing units already built, under construction, or in the works. Without reliable access to the full safe yield of the Cape Fear, we cannot meet future water demands for these communities.”

The IBT proposal also threatens water quality, Giesting continued, because the requested daily transfer would lessen the amount of water available to dilute contaminants, including PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, discharged by upstream polluters.

The Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority, which provides wholesale regional raw water to treatment facilities that serve more than 550,000 customers in a five-county area, has sourced from the Cape Fear River more than half a century.

Authority Executive Director Tim Holloman said the river is already being substantially used as a water resource in the region.

“For a river that’s already maxed, we just ask that that be considered. If the IBT is granted, that (water) be returned to the Cape Fear River Basin because the need is not going to go away. It’s only going to increase over time,” he said.

Fayetteville Public Works Commission Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Timothy Bryant said that the commission would be forced to spend millions more each year to ensure safe drinking water to its more than 250,000 customers.

“I would argue very strenuously that no one with any legitimacy can claim that removing over 6 million gallons of water per day isn’t a foreseeable detrimental effect on the river basin and the 900,000 downstream residents of North Carolina who depend on this water every day,” he said. “To be clear, growth in Fuquay-Varina should not come at the expense of other communities. There are multiple reasonable alternative options presented that are not only consistent with the intent and letter of North Carolina law, but also squarely place the cost burden on Fuquay-Varina and not the customers downstream of it.”

Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Executive Director Ken Waldroup asked that the Environmental Management Commission look into what he said are “critical technical shortcomings” associated with models presented by the town.

The commission will make the final determination on whether to grant Fuquay-Varina’s request.

If approved, the IBT would occur after 2031, according to the draft impact statement.

No announcement had been made at the time of this publication as to whether a public hearing will be held in the lower Cape Fear region.

The Cape Fear Museum of History and Science will be temporarily closing later this month in preparation for opening its new facility in downtown Wilmington.

The museum’s Market Street location will close to the public beginning at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31 to allow staff to safely prepare and relocate more than 400 artifacts to be displayed at the new building at 230 Grace St.

“This process, including the move of items and installation of new exhibits, will take approximately seven months to complete, with an anticipated opening in July 2026,” according to a release. “Once open, this downtown block will be anchored by the Museum and Public Library, creating a cultural hub for residents and visitors.”

The new facility will accommodate permanent exhibitions, classrooms, an outdoor terrace, 60-seat planetarium, play spaces, hands-on exhibits and gallery, outdoor learning gallery, traveling exhibition gallery, and more.

The museum’s current home at 814 Market St. will function as a dedicated research facility, exhibition design and fabrication workshop, and collections and management complex once the new building opens.

“The museum team has spent years developing exhibition content to bring a modern, state-of-the-art cultural amenity to New Hanover County,” museum Director Kate Baillon said in a release. “Cape Fear Museum’s facility in the Grace District will offer a dynamic and immersive educational experience that celebrates our region’s history, science, and cultures. We look forward to welcoming visitors in summer 2026.”

The museum is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. It will be closed Dec. 24-26 for the Christmas holiday.

Alliance for Cape Fear Trees is holding its largest tree giveaway yet on Friday, with more than 1,400 native trees up for the taking.

The giveaway will be held in Wilmington noon-5 p.m. Friday at Legion Stadium, 2149 Carolina Beach Road, and will continue starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, if there are remaining trees.

The nonprofit will be offering 14 species of native trees, including stock from Burton Natural Systems and heritage Southern live oaks from Penderlea Farms.

Those interested in participating in the giveaway are encouraged to view the list of available trees in advance to “plan ahead for a tree that will suit your space and needs.”

Trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Coastal Review cannot guarantee availability.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is hosting an open house and public hearing on Monday for the Independence Boulevard extension project in central Wilmington.

The proposed 1.7-mile project would extend Independence Boulevard from the intersection with Randall Parkway and Mercer Avenue to U.S. 74, also known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, according to a release.

Transportation officials will be available during the open house from 5-6:30 p.m. to answer questions and receive comments regarding the proposed project in the cafeteria of the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington, 4100 Sunglow Dr.

A presentation will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed.

Written comments may also be provided at the meeting, submitted by telephone by calling 601-300-5186, enter project code 4173, by email to IndependenceBlvd@PublicInput.com, or at NCDOT’s public input portal by Jan. 16, 2026.

Auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act will be provided at the request of those who require special services by contacting Aleksandra Djurkovic at 919-707-6024 or andjurkovic@ncdot.gov as early as possible. 

Interpretive services for anyone who does not speak English, or has a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, will be also be available upon request before the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

WILMINGTON — Deepening the Wilmington Harbor would disperse PFAS now mingling in the riverbed’s sediment into marshes and onto public beaches, accelerate erosion, exacerbate flooding, destroy habitat, and is not economically justified, area residents said during a state-hosted public hearing.

Many who spoke at the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s hearing in downtown Wilmington Monday night argued that the federal draft environmental statement released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this fall fails to fully examine potential impacts associated with the proposed project.

The draft study examines different alternatives for the North Carolina State Ports Authority’s aim to accommodate larger container ships at the Wilmington port.

The preferred alternative selected in the study calls for deepening the harbor from 42 to 47 feet, widening the channel in multiple areas, and extending the ocean entrance to the river. These changes would accommodate vessels that can carry 14,000 20-by-8-foot shipping containers, ports officials say.

But several of the nearly 20 people who spoke argued that the proposed project would not benefit the local economy, and its environmental harms would drastically overwhelm any associated economic benefits. About 70 people attended the hearing.

“This project is a poor economic decision given the massive cost compared to the miniscule benefits,” said Jessica Hardee, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The cost of deepening the harbor and the channel is projected to be over $1 billion. However, the only noted benefit of this project are cost savings to international shipping companies who use the port, not North Carolina or local communities. This project provides little benefit to the Wilmington area and North Carolinians while also threatening significant damage to the coastal region.”

One striking absence from the study is how churning up and moving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the sediment of the lower Cape Fear River might affect the environment, animals that rely on that environment, and human health, some speakers said.

“Even though we all know that there’s PFAS in the sediment of the river, the Corps says we can’t consider that because it’s not a regulated chemical,” said Wilmington resident and geologist Roger Shew.

But PFAS, or similar chemical compounds of which there are more than 14,000 used to make a host of consumer goods from food containers to stain-resistant clothing and carpet, will be regulated by the time the channel would be deepened in the early to mid-2030s, he said.

“And since 15 million of the 35 million cubic yards of dredge material will be used as beneficial placement in marshes on our area beaches, we should know the content of that sediment and potential impacts with sediment placement,” Shew said. “A core function of an (environmental impact statement) is consideration of potential harm. Therefore, they should and must include PFAS in the study.”

A study published late last month found concentrations of 56 PFAS in blood samples obtained from 119 Wilmington residents between 2010 and 2016.

Two chemical compounds – TFA and PFMOAA – were the dominant PFAS in the samples, “despite their likely short half-lives in the human body,” according to the study.

TFA, or trifluoroacetic acid, and PFMOAA, or perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid, are ultrashort-chain PFAS, which are the smallest type of PFAS and hardest to remove from drinking water sources.

The blood samples examined in the study were obtained before the public was made aware in 2017 that an upstream industrial facility had been discharging PFAS directly into the Cape Fear River, the drinking water sources for tens of thousands, since the 1980s.

“While current TFA and PFMOAA levels have likely decreased substantially from those in the historical blood serum samples evaluated here as a result of mandated discharge controls at the upstream fluorochemical manufacturer, this study, along with other recent studies, highlights the importance ultrashort-chain PFAS can play in determining the overall human PFAS burden,” the study states.

Wilmington resident Kaiti Sheehan said the fact that PFAS is not considered in the draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, “is a slap in the face to residents who are paying for a $42 million granulated active-carbon filtration system and still facing the health consequences that have come from 40 years of contamination from our upstream bad actor.”

“I do genuinely hope that you will look and you will see how much the community has come out tonight in recognition that this is bad for Wilmington and this is bad for North Carolina,” she said.

Others raised concerns about how deepening the harbor to allow for larger ships to travel the 28 miles upriver to the port would increase erosion on the string of bird islands that pepper the lower Cape Fear River and the riverbanks themselves.

The Cape Fear River supports almost 30% of the state’s nesting American oystercatchers.

Audubon North Carolina’s Lindsay Addison, a coastal biologist, said she and her staff are on the Cape Fear River two to three days a week between March and August and at least once during each of the other months of the year.

“We have seen progressively the impacts of the larger and larger classes of ships coming up the river,” she said. “We saw larger, more severe wakes. The DEIS does not take this into account. The Corps, in its beneficial use plan, talks about maybe putting sediment on 2 miles of the shoreline.”

Birds nest on high-tide lines, Addison said. Waves created by a large ship’s wake push water “like a tsunami” over nests and sweep nests away.

“There is no model in the DEIS that accounts for this,” Addison said. “There is no data collection in the DEIS that accounts for this. In fact, there’s no new data collection in the DEIS. They’re relying on data that was already collected. They told us in the stakeholder meeting, flat out, that they’re not going to collected new data so impacts to the migratory birds in the DEIS are not taken into account.”

Officials with the Division of Coastal Management, which is under the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, announced Monday night that the public comment period on the draft study has been extended from Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.

Written comments may be mailed to Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC  28557, or emailed to Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov with “Federal Consistency: USACE Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project” in the subject line.

More information on the proposed project is on the Corps’ website.

The state agency that manages coastal resources will accept public comment until Dec. 5 on the draft environmental impact statement for a proposed project to deepen and widen portions of the Wilmington Harbor navigation channel.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District submitted to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management the draft document that “evaluates the potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of the proposed project and alternatives in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act,” or NEPA, for the proposed Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project, officials said.

A more thorough description of the proposed federal actions is available online.

The state’s review of the submitted federal consistency determination request will determine if the proposed project in Brunswick and New Hanover counties is consistent with the enforceable policies of North Carolina’s Coastal Management Program, the division notes in a press release.

An in-person public hearing is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at Skyline Center, 929 N. Front St., Wilmington. Speaker registration opens onsite at 5 p.m. Speaker time may be limited depending on the number of registered speakers.

The division will accept written comments until 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Comments should be mailed by 5 p.m. Dec. 5 to Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC 28557, or emailed to Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov.  Write “Federal Consistency: USACE Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project” in the subject line.

Officials said all comments will be considered in developing the state’s consistency response.

The Wilmington City Council on Wednesday night unanimously adopted a resolution opposing Chemours’ proposed expansion of its Fayetteville Works plant.

The resolution asks the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “and other relevant regulatory bodies to deny any permits or approvals related to such expansion until Chemours has fully remediated existing contamination and demonstrated a sustained, transparent commitment to environmental and public health protections.”

The resolution also states that the council formally opposes the plant’s releases of ultra-short chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, into downstream drinking water intakes and asks DEQ to deny permits that would allow Chemours to continue to discharge those chemical compounds into the environment.

Chemours has applied for a permit to expand its production of vinyl ethers, a class of compounds used to create a variety of products used in a range of technologies from semiconductor chips to aviation components.

The planned expansion has drawn considerable blowback from communities downstream of the plant, which discharged PFAS directly into the Cape Fear River, groundwater, and air unbeknownst to the public for decades.

PFAS specific to the Bladen County plant has been documented in the river, which is the drinking water source for some 500,000 North Carolinians, as well as in private drinking water wells.

“These discharges have resulted in significant public health concerns, environmental degradation, and economic burdens on local governments and residents who have had to invest in costly water treatment upgrades and health monitoring,” the resolution states.

The council, “calls on Chemours to engage in meaningful dialogue with affected communities, disclose all relevant environmental data, and prioritize the health and safety of North Carolinians over corporate expansion.”

Guest Commentary

To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently working on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Port of Wilmington’s plan to deepen the Cape Fear River, with the stated goal of accommodating larger cargo ships. As a retired Corps of Engineers senior project engineer, I feel it’s crucial to raise some serious concerns about this initiative.

The North Carolina State Ports Authority has significantly overlooked other viable alternatives, besides incremental deepening, and failed to assess the extensive infrastructure damage that increased freight traffic could inflict on our roads and bridges. This is particularly evident in major new projects like the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and Wilmington’s Rail Realignment Project. Both are billion-dollar investments intended to accommodate the large volume of new truck and rail freight movement. One only need to look at the definition of the secondary effects as defined by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These secondary effects clearly relate to the need to expand the port’s freight-handling capacity.

Deepening the river will only worsen flooding, affecting areas around the downtown Wilmington waterfront and the historically significant North Carolina Battleship site. It will also lead to a substantial loss of vital wetlands and floodplains due to increasing saltwater intrusion, a value the Ports Authority conveniently understates in its Section 203 report required under the Clean Water Act.

From 1980 to 2017, DuPont, and now Chemours, released vast quantities of hazardous PFAS compounds, polluting nearly 100 miles of the Cape Fear River, including the proposed dredging prisms defined in the port’s set of alternatives. This legacy of contamination must be a central part of the EIS evaluation, as it directly challenges the claimed benefits of the project. Additionally, the reverse osmosis water treatment plant in Brunswick County, which aims to remove PFAS from drinking water, will release highly concentrated PFAS-contaminated wastewater 3 miles upstream of the port. This will further complicate the environmental challenges posed by the proposed dredging project, as well as future dredging operations and maintenance requirements, which once again go unaddressed in the port’s Section 203 report.

Why is this a critical oversight? PFAS clings to or settles into fine sediments like silt and clay found in the soil in and around the dredge-soil prism proposed to be dredged. It’s only logical that when these contaminated sediments are dredged, a safe disposal management plan would be an essential requirement for both federal and state regulators. When PFAS is detected in the dredged sediment, our regulators need to determine whether the material is suitable for placement or disposal, especially regarding upland sites or beach renourishment projects.

The Corps’ “Beneficial Use” strategy aims to repurpose the dredged material as a resource. However, this faces significant hurdles within the scope of this proposed project, as regulators decide how to prevent PFAS from being released back into the environment. The Eagles Island disposal area, which predates NEPA and was built on a previously healthy wetland and floodplain, is not an appropriate site for disposing of contaminated dredged soil because it lacks a liner. Furthermore, researchers in North Carolina and across the globe continue to investigate the damage that PFAS is causing to aquatic ecosystems as it transfers from sediment back into the water column during dredging and placement operations.

Without the Corps thoroughly addressing PFAS contamination, there is zero chance of ensuring the health and well-being of those who rely on the river’s resources in the future. This is particularly important when considering deepening options for the beneficial uses of these contaminated sediments. PFAS contamination adds another layer of complexity that will require extensive testing and could significantly impact project costs and feasibility.

There is no question that this proposed dredging project will certainly disturb sediments, releasing PFAS and other contaminants back into the water, which poses risks to aquatic life and human health.

Key issues include the following:

• Contamination — Dedging stirs PFAS, disrupts water quality.
• Aquatic risks — PFAS can bioaccumulate in marine organisms.
• Health concerns — Contaminated fish and drinking water pose human health risks.
• Regulatory challenges — Lack of consistent state or federal guidelines will create confusion for any of the deepening alternatives proposed under the port’s Section 203 study.

To enable the federal and state governments to properly manage PFAS risks related to deepening or maintenance dredging within the navigation channel, increased testing, ongoing research, development of standards, and best management practices are essential.

PFAS contamination is impacting rivers and harbors across our country. Michigan’s Department of Environment now mandates PFAS testing for sediments in harbor dredging, which is causing project delays, such as in Grand Haven, due to unclear safety standards. The Corps warns that this could reduce dredging operations from 24 to only three to five harbors annually due to rising costs — up to 200% higher with resampling — and the lack of precise guidance.

Given these critical issues, taxpayers should be alarmed by a proposed port project that fails to account for its environmental and infrastructural costs. Suppose we don’t consider the long-term implications of the port’s proposed alterations to our river. In that case, we might find ourselves stuck with unsustainable financial and environmental costs, while the economic benefits remain questionable at best.

It is our river, yet it has been treated as a stepchild compared to other, less critical economic priorities. Standard economic models often overlook the real financial value of natural resources and ecological systems like those on the lower Cape Fear River. Since nature’s “goods and services,” such as clean air, fresh water, and fully functioning floodplains and wetlands, are often considered free, they are becoming overused and undervalued. As I’ve tried to explain here, the degradation of our environment directly affects our citizens, taxpayers, and the species that depend on healthy ecosystems.

As the Corps prepares its EIS, it is essential to find more sustainable alternatives than digging us into a deeper hole that we can’t escape.  If not for us, then how about our kids, grandchildren, and their grandchildren?

If you have an opinion or concerns about this project, please submit your comments to:

By Email: WilmingtonHarbor403@usace.army.mil, or by mail to  ATTN: Wilmington Harbor 403, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington, NC 28403, or by comment cards at the public meetings.

Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of Coastal Review or our publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

People in the charter or for-hire business are invited to share their perspectives on challenges facing the industry during upcoming meetings with state fisheries officials.

The meetings, hosted by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries, will cover topics to include mandatory harvest reporting as well as other subjects those in attendance would like to discuss.

The first of three meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Division of Marine Fisheries Central District Office, 5285 Highway 70, Morehead City.

A meeting will be hosted at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Cape Fear Community College, room 252, 502 N. Front St., Wilimington.

On Dec. 2, a meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at College of the Albemarle – Dare Room 110, 205 U.S. 64, Manteo.

For additional information about the meetings, contact Coral Sawyer at coral.sawyer@deq.nc.gov or 252-515-5527.

A series of events will kick off beginning Thursday to commemorate and honor the victims of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre and Coup D’etat.

The annual remembrance will feature a host of programs, beginning with a soil jar display program event at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Sherman Hayes Gallery at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Programs will continue through the weekend, including an 1898 wreath-laying ceremony at 9 a.m. at 1898 Memorial Park, 1018 N. Third St.

A full list of events with links to registrations is available online.

The massacre took place on Nov. 10, 1898, when a mob of armed white men marched to a local African American newspaper and set it on fire following a campaign by prominent white citizens in the city to overthrow the legally elected biracial city government.

After setting The Daily Record office ablaze, the violent mob rushed the city’s Northside, attacking African Americans. The number of African American Wilmington residents who died that day remains unknown.

Local elected officials, forced to resign, were replaced by white supremacist leaders.

An online interactive map provides more information and a timeline of events that unfolded during the massacre.

A celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Greenfield Park in Wilmington will be hosted next month with tributes, family activities, and a free concert.

The Nov. 1 ceremony will kick off at 11 a.m. with remarks from various officials, including city and New Hanover County officials, followed by the dedication of a time capsule.

Community vendors, local food trucks and a bounce house will be on site during the celebration, which will extend through the afternoon for a free centennial concert at the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Officials are to announce additional information, including the lineup of concert performers, on its website.

Anyone with photographs of Greenfield Park who would like to include them in the time capsule may bring pictures no larger than 4 by 4 inches to the ceremony. Photographs may also be mailed to City of Wilmington Parks & Recreation, P.O. Box 1810, Wilmington, NC 28402.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is planning to serve a spread of steamed local oysters, a low country boil, vegetarian options, and other favorites during this year’s “A Roast for the Coast.”

The fundraising event for the nonprofit begins at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 on the grounds of the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington. The event is to be held rain or shine.

Proceeds will go to the organization’s efforts to restore native oysters, such as its oyster shell recycling program. The shells collected are used to build and restore oyster reefs in the lower Cape Fear River and along the coast.

Tickets can be purchased online. Cost is $70 for Coastal Federation members or $80 for nonmembers and includes two drink tickets for wine or beer, plus unlimited nonalcoholic beverages. 

The online silent auction opened Tuesday. Bidders do not need to attend the event to win. 

Attendees have access to a $10 voucher for Uber rides using the code, rqmkbnvbzkk, or this link.

Those who register by 5 p.m. Sept. 30 and use the code EARLY will receive 10% off their ticket price.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Learn why controlled burns are crucial to maintaining thriving native longleaf pine habitats at this year’s Fire in the Pines Festival in Wilmington.

Now in its 15th year, the festival hosts nature-themed exhibits, hay rides, food trucks, live music and animals, and the grand finale: a controlled burn demonstration.

The festival will be 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday in Halyburton Park, 4099 S 17th St.

The festival is a collaboration among organizations including The Nature Conservancy, N.C. Forest Service, Wilmington Recreation and Downtown Services, Halyburton Park, and North Carolina Coastal Land Trust to raise awareness about the importance of controlled burning and its relationship to longleaf pine forests.

Parking will be available only at Lifepoint Church at 3600 South College Road with free trolley service to and from the festival.

In the event of rain, the festival will be rescheduled for Oct. 11.

There’s still time to register for the annual Ocean Innovation Conference at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

The conference is scheduled to take place in UNCW’s Burney Center from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Virtual registration closes Friday. The fee to register to attend the event virtually is $30. Questions will be taken from virtual participants for keynote speakers and panelists and some virtual innovation fair booths will be available to those who register to attend online.

In-person registration runs through to the day of the conference and costs $129. Seats are limited.

All UNCW students may attend in-person or virtually for free. Tenants with the university’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship receive a 50% discount and CIE members and coworkers a 25% discount.

For more information about discounts contact cie@uncw.edu.

Now in its third year, the conference brings together UNCW’s deep research expertise, the entrepreneurial ecosystem of southeastern North Carolina and those passionate about the ocean and coastal communities to spark conversations about topics including marine biotechnology, alternative materials, living shoreline projects, ocean data science, and emerging innovations.

Highlights of the conference include updates on marine and coastal research, trends in blue economy innovation, and showcasing opportunities for investment, collaboration, and action.

This year’s featured keynote speakers are Deborah Westphal, author and executive advisor at The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust, and world surfing champion and author of The CODE Method Shaun Tomson.

Sessions are held throughout the day and will focus on the regional blue ecosystem, cutting-edge ocean technologies, and efforts to preserve and restore ocean resources.

The event is organized by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Alliance for the Blue Economy (All Blue).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has opened a public comment period on its draft environmental impact statement of the Wilmington Harbor project.

Public comments on the multi-million project to deepen the main channel from a depth of 42 feet to 47 feet will be accepted through Nov. 3.

The Corps’ draft letter report and DEIS are available online.

District officials are scheduled to host an open house from 3-7 p.m. Oct. 8 in downtown Wilmington, where participants will get the opportunity to speak with Corps officials, learn about the conditionally authorized project, ask questions, and provide comments.

The open house will take place in Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station Building, Daniels Hall, 502 N. Front St.

Public comments may be submitted by email to WilmingtonHarbor403@usace.army.mil, by mail to ATTN: Wilmington Harbor 403, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington, N.C. 28403, or by comment card at the public meeting.

Three coastal-based water treatment plants are among those recently honored by the state for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2024.

The North Carolina Division of Water Resources’ Public Water Supply Section awarded the N.C. Area Wide Optimization Program Award to 63 water treatment plants, including Brunswick County Northwest Water Treatment Plant, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant in Wilmington, and Pender County Utilities Surface Water Treatment Plant.

The awards, part of a state effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities, are given each year to water systems that demonstrate outstanding turbidity removal, which is a key test of drinking water quality, according to a N.C. Department of Environmental Quality news release distributed Thursday.

“While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems met performance goals that are significantly higher,” according to the release. “In 2024, more than 2.8 million North Carolina residents were served by these award-winning plants.”

Cape Fear Public Utility Authority was also recognized with the “Gold Star” honor, which is awarded to systems that have received the Area Wide Optimization Program Award for 10 more consecutive years. In all, 20 facilities received that recognition for 2024.

The Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a public hearing next month on a proposed permit for a municipal wastewater treatment facility that discharges 1,4-dioxane into the drinking water supplies for about 1 million North Carolinians.

Oral or written comments about the federal agency’s specific objection to Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant’s proposed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit will be accepted at the hearing scheduled from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Oct. 22.

The hearing follows the EPA’s response to a ruling last year by former Chief Administrative Law Judge Donald van der Vaart that N.C. Department of Environmental Quality officials did not follow state law when they calculated discharge limits and established an enforceable water quality standard for 1,4-dioxane.

That chemical, one that cannot be removed through conventional water treatment methods, is deemed by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen.

The state has appealed the ruling.

The Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant has been discharging high levels of 1,4-dioxane upstream of the drinking water supply for several cities and counites, including Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.

The hearing will be hosted both virtually and in-person at the JB and Claire Davis Corporate Training Center at Randolph Community College, 413 Industrial Park Ave., Asheboro. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Those who plan to attend in-person are encouraged to arrive early and preregister at least 72 hours before the hearing.

Virtual attendees may register online. Instructions are available on how to submit written comments during or after the hearing up until the close of the period for receiving comments. Those who attend virtually will not be able to present oral comments during the hearing.

The hearing will kick off with brief presentations by EPA officials and a neutral process facilitator. Oral comments will be limited to three minutes per person.

The agency does not guarantee that everyone who wishes to speak will get the opportunity to at the hearing, but will accept written comments from anyone who does not.

Written comments will be accepted through Oct. 31 and may be emailed to R4NPDESComments@epa.gov or mailed to US EPA, NPDES Permitting Section, Water Division, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA 30303-8960.

The North Carolina NPDES permit number is NC0026123.

Donate your flounder carcass and you could win a prize.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will collect flounder carcasses from recreational anglers during the season, which runs Sept. 1-14 this year, for research purposes.

Anyone who donates their flounder carcass and fully completes the required catch-card will be entered to win one of two rod and reel combinations.

Cards and donation supplies are available at year-round donation sites in the following locations:

• Frisco Rod & Gun, Frisco.
• Jennette’s Pier, Nags Head.
• Eastside Bait & Tackle, Washington.
• Cape Pointe Marina, Harkers Island.
• N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Headquarters, Morehead City.
• Tex’s Tackle, Wilmington.
• Clem’s Seafood, Southport.

Additional temporary donation locations have been established at the following:

• Quarter Deck, 503 Carteret St., Bath.
• Chasin Tails Outdoors Bait & Tackle, 709 Atlantic Beach Causeway, Atlantic Beach.
• Pelagic Hunter, 104 James St., Sneads Ferry.
• Intracoastal Angler, 6332 Oleander Drive, Wilmington.
• Carolina Beach Municipal Docks, Carl Winner Drive, Carolina Beach.
• Ocean Isle Fishing Center, 65 Causeway Drive, Ocean Isle Beach.

Anglers are asked to leave the fish head and tail intact when cleaning and, if possible, the guts/reproductive organs. Fishers on charter or head boats should let the fish cleaner know the carcass will be donated.

The division’s biologist measure each fish, determine the sex of each when possible, and remove the otoliths, or ear bones, to determine the age of each fish. This information will used in future flounder stock assessments.

Recreational flounder season opens this year at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. There is a one fish per one person per day limit through the season and the size limit is 15 inches total length.

Biologists will gather data from commercially caught flounder at fish houses. Carcasses caught by commercial fishers should not be left in the Carcass Collection Program freezers.

For more information, visit the Carcass Collection Program website or contact Amanda Macek, division sportfishing specialist, at 252 515-5537 or amanda.macek@deq.nc.gov.

Wilmington is seeking proposals for the design, fabrication and installation of a permanent public artwork commemorating the historic city’s significant role in the American Revolution.

The city invites professional artists or artist teams to submit proposals between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31.

Submittals should reflect the historical importance of the city’s revolutionary past, recognizing the stories, people, and spirit that helped shape the birth of this nation, “while creating a meaningful and lasting landmark for the city,” according to a city notice.

The artwork will be installed in downtown on public property.

The artist or artist team whose proposal is selected will be awarded a $25,000, all-inclusive budget related to design, materials, fabrication, transportation, installation and any necessary permits or insurance.

Eligible artists or artist teams must be at least 18 and authorized to work in the United States. Experience with public art is preferred.

Proposals will be evaluated on artistic merit and originality, relevance and connection to Wilmington’s Revolutionary War history, feasibility and durability of materials in an outdoor, public setting, ability to meet the project timeline and budget, and community impact and site integration.

Submittals should include an artist statement and resume, a one- or two-page concept description explaining the applicant’s vision, historical relevance, materials and fabrication methods, a preliminary visual rendering or concept sketches, a budget breakdown, a timeline for project completion, certificate of liability insurance, and three to five images of past works, particularly public art.

Artists also have the option to submit letters of support or references.

Submittals may be emailed as a single PDF to andrea.talley@wilmingtonnc.gov with the subject line “Revolutionary Wilmington Art Proposal – (Name of artist)” or mailed to City of Wilmington, Attention: Andrea Talley, Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 1810, Wilmington, NC 28402.

For questions, email Talley.

This story has been updated.

WILMINGTON – Beams of sunlight broke through dark gray storm clouds suspended in the sky above this historic city on a recent August morning.

The local forecast was calling for rain, the kind of weather that drives tourists from area beaches to explore other experiences the area has to offer. The kind of weather that makes for a busy day at the Battleship North Carolina, the iconic floating World War II memorial moored on the Cape Fear River across from downtown Wilmington.

“This parking lot will be full in another hour,” said Terry DeMeo, the battleship’s director of development.

A year ago, DeMeo might not have made that prediction with as much certainty.

Back then, floodwaters overspilling from the Cape Fear River might have swallowed dozens of parking spaces in the western portion of the parking lot and forced visitors to make a decision: wade through water to get to the museum’s visitor center or head for higher ground.

That’s not much of a worry these days.

A wetland has been built in place of the chronically flooded section of parking lot to help absorb high-tide driven water. A tidal creek now meanders through this area of the property to direct water from the wetland back to the Cape Fear River.

A 500-foot-long and 50-foot-wide bioretention area extends through a paved, raised parking lot that has, since its completion Memorial Day weekend, gone untouched by floodwaters.

A bioswale runs the length of the parking lot next to Battleship Road. Living shorelines blend in with the rest of the natural, wild landscape around the ship’s mooring.

These features are all part of the battleship’s “Living with Water” project, one that accommodates the water rather than try and fight it back.

Construction on the project, some seven years in the making, is mostly complete.

Land next to the battleship has become a well-known and well-documented case in point on the impacts of sea level rise.

Since the memorial opened to the public in 1961, flood events on the property have climbed on a near-steady incline. Over the past six decades, a more than 7,000% increase in tidal flooding frequency has been documented at the site.

Flood events spurred by the rising sea created a sense of urgency for the museum’s leaders. The memorial does not receive regular government funding.

Persistent flooding of the property threatened one of the primary sources of the battleship’s funding – admission fees and gift shop sales.

“We actually lost parking, but that’s how committed we are to this project,” DeMeo said as she looked across the parking lot.

The lot sits at an elevation 6 feet above the old gravel one it replaced earlier this year.

The parking lot slopes to a bioretention area that looks as much like a pleasing water feature as it does a functional holding area for stormwater that allows water to percolate down into the soil.

A total of 450 spaces were at the memorial before the project was built. Today, there are 150 fewer parking spaces on the property.

Of those parking spaces, 100 were unusable due to flooding of the western portion of the old parking lot, DeMeo said. Plans are in the works to finish an overflow lot that may add roughly another 55 spaces.

“So, discounting the unusable old spaces, we expect to come out about even,” DeMeo said later in an email.

The loss of spaces has been a small price to pay for the multimillion-dollar project, one funded through federal and state grants, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, as well as the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission, Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership, and numerous individual donors.

Within days of the wetland and tidal creek’s completion, birds moved in on the area, DeMeo said.

“That’s been pretty amazing to see the avian community step in right away, which means fish were in there,” she said. “That’s also when we saw the diminution of walking through knee-high flooding.”

The land, she explained, has been able to recreate itself.

The site now hosts researchers from NOAA as well as the University of North Carolina Wilmington, who are monitoring everything from the physical and vegetative parameters of the area to water quality.

The museum’s leaders are now in the early stages of exploring the creation of a living lab partnership with the university and NOAA.

A living lab is a natural fit, “and it’s a way to keep an eye on the project itself,” DeMeo said.

“This is a long-term project,” she said. “We don’t know where it’s ending. We consider ourselves a model for how this can be done and how it can’t be done. We really see ourselves as an opportunity to use as a case study. We had the opportunity and we had the need. That’s why we feel so strongly about serving as a model.”

Southeast coastal counties and municipalities within them are teaming with the N.C. Emergency Management to update the Southeastern N.C. Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The federally required plan helps prepare for future disasters by identifying natural hazard risks, potential impacts of those risks on communities, and mitigation goals and actions. Plans must be updated every five years.

Residents of Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties are invited to take a short public survey to provide feedback as part of the update to the plan.

A virtual meeting about the updated plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Aug. 18. Anyone wishing to attend may register online.

Hazard mitigation plans are required under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, which mandates state, tribal, county, and local governments create, approve and adopt mitigation plans in order to be eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster and nondisaster grant programs.

There are 30 regional multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plans in North Carolina. This is the state’s fifth update of those local mitigation plans. Updates are managed and funded by N.C. Emergency Management through grant funding.

The update process includes a thorough community-level review of natural hazard risks and potential impacts, capabilities, and a review and updating of mitigation goals and actions established in previous plan editions.

A section of River Road in Wilmington will be closed starting later this month through to next year as construction continues on a new roundabout.

The road will be closed the morning of Aug. 18 between Coleman Drive and Independence Boulevard with construction anticipated to last six months. Digital message boards will be placed along the route on Wednesday to alert drivers to the closures to come.

Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 6, digital message boards are to be placed along the route to alert drivers of the closures to come.

A detour will route drives to Carolina Beach Road via Raleigh Street and Sunnyvale Drive.

Traffic will still be permitted through the intersection, with northbound motorists on River Road turning right onto Independence Boulevard toward Carolina Beach Road, and those traveling southbound on Independence Boulevard turning left onto River Road toward Riverlights.

The new, single-lane roundabout is a $2.42 million joint project between the city, Riverlights, and Proximity Watermark Development. The roundabout is designed to improve safety and traffic flow through the busy corridor.

The Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has awarded a multimillion-dollar dredge contract to clear shoaling from sections of the Wilmington Harbor.

The Corps last week signed off a $17.12 million contract with Norfolk Dredging Co. to maintain the authorized depth of the harbor’s anchorage basin and mid-river area. The work, which is anticipated to begin sometime later this year, is part of the Corps’ routine harbor maintenance.

“This dredging project will ensure safe and efficient passage for commercial vessels, supporting jobs and commerce throughout the Cape Fear region and beyond,” according to a release. “Regular dredging is essential to remove accumulated sediment, which can impede vessel traffic and limit cargo capacity, thus impacting the Port of Wilmington’s operations and its critical role in the supply chain.”

Norfolk Dredging has been contracted to clear more than 1.8 million cubic yards from the harbor, including 1.15 million cubic yards from the anchorage basin and 730,000 cubic yards from the mid-river reaches, said Jed Cayton, the district’s public affairs specialist, in an email.

The dredged material, most of which is not beach-compatible, will be placed offshore at a permitted disposal site, he said.

Norfolk Dredging is also expected to remove an estimated 1.3 million cubic yards of material from the harbor’s inner ocean bar later this year. The material through this area of the harbor is deemed beach-compatible and is to be placed on Oak Island and Caswell Beach’s ocean shorelines. The project must be completed between mid-November and April 30, 2026.

Later this month, the Corps will open bids for dredging in the harbor’s outer ocean bar, where an estimated 1 million cubic yards of material is expected to be removed between Dec. 1 and April 15, 2026.

Another project on the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus is underway to help protect the quality of nearby waters.

Crews are transforming a 250-foot hard, compacted service road at the newly renovated Brooks Field into a permeable drive that soaks in rain. The material helps to reduce flooding and decrease the volume of polluted runoff flowing into the Bradley Creek watershed, the North Carolina Coastal Federation said Tuesday.

The project is one of many on university in New Hanover County that implements the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan. Wilmington adopted the plan in 2012 to guide reducing the volume of stormwater runoff in the two watersheds that connect the city, Wrightsville Beach, and Masonboro Island.

UNCW is the largest landowner in the Bradley Creek Watershed.

“We are pleased to be working again with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and Heal Our Waterways to reduce runoff on campus and showcase nature-based solutions on site,” UNCW Chief Sustainability Officer Feletia Lee said in a release.

Since 2019, the University has partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and Wilmington, particularly the city’s Heal Our Waterways Program, to install rain gardens and parking lot retrofits on campus.

“We’re proud to see this partnership continue to make meaningful progress toward the goals within the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan,” said Wilmington Watershed Coordinator Anna Reh-Gingerich. “It’s encouraging to see the momentum from these projects steadily grow at UNCW and throughout the community, especially with a new permeable paver project set to begin soon at Mad Mole Brewing after the current installation is complete.”

Construction on both the UNCW and Mad Mole projects is being completed by the team at Thorpe Landscapes of Wilmington. The company provides landscaping, hardscapes, permeable pavers, and outdoor construction services in the Cape Fear region.

“These projects serve as a great showcase of responsible and attractive stormwater management that any landowner can implement,” Coastal Federation Water Quality Director Bree Charron added.

This stormwater retrofit project was supported by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources’ EPA Section 319 Water Quality Program.

Armed now with a petition of 10,000 signatures, a group fighting a proposed development in a forest that holds the last large expanse of old-growth trees in New Hanover County plans to host a rally June 21.

The Save Sledge Forest rally will include live music and food trucks. The rally is scheduled for 4-5 p.m. at Innes Park, 102 N. 3rd St., Wilmington.

An after-party will be held at Waterline Brewing Co., 721 Surry St.

Sledge Forest rises from the banks of the Northeast Cape Fear River and sprawls thousands of acres across northern New Hanover County. It is part of the river floodplain, one of the largest landscape corridors in the southeastern part of the state.

Some of the forest’s inhabitants include cypress and loblolly pine trees hundreds of years old and considered a “rare old-growth occurrence,” according to a biological survey published in May 2003 by the Natural Heritage Program of North Carolina, which identified the forest as a significant natural area.

Last year, a Charlotte-based development company submitted proposed plans to build thousands of single-family houses, a golf course, trails and a horse farm on about 1,000 acres of the 4,000-acre site. Much of the remaining 3,000 or so acres includes protected wetlands.

In case of inclement weather June 21, a rain date has been scheduled the following day from 1:30-3 p.m.

Wilmington and area residents looking to spruce up their yards this spring can pick up free mulch during the launch of the city’s mulch giveaway program.

The initial giveaway event is set for Friday, May 30, on a first-come, first-served basis at the overflow parking lot behind Legion Stadium via West Lake Shore Drive.

The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. City staff may suspend or stop the event at any time due to supply or safety concerns and the city does not guarantee the quality or composition of the materials.

A limited supply of partially decayed stump grindings will also be available.

Mulch and grindings must be hand loaded only. Loading assistance will not be provided. Equipment, commercial vehicles such as dump trucks and marked commercial trucks or trailers are prohibited.

Additional giveaways will be orchestrated based on mulch availability and community interest.

For more information, contact the city’s Park and Forestry office at 910-341-7852.

More than 1 million cubic yards of sand will be injected onto ocean shores on Oak Island in conjunction with routine maintenance dredging of the Wilmington Harbor.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District announced Monday it has awarded an $18.6 million contract to Norfolk Dredging Co. of Chesapeake, Virginia, to clean out an estimated 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from the Wilmington Harbor Inner Ocean Bar.

The beach-compatible material will be placed on the beaches of the town of Oak Island and Caswell Beach some time during the environmental window, which runs from mid-November through April 30, according to a Corps’ release.

“This dredging project will ensure safe and efficient passage for commercial vessels while also providing the valuable benefit of beach nourishment for Oak Island,” the release states. “Maintenance dredging is a necessary process to remove accumulated sediment from the Inner Ocean Bar, ensuring the harbor maintains its authorized depth. The USACE Wilmington District remains dedicated to its mission of maintaining the nation’s waterways and supporting the economic vitality of the region through projects like this.”

This is one trap you may not mind falling for.

The annual “Flytrap Frolic,” what organizers call a one-of-a-kind celebration of Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants, is scheduled 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden, 3800 Canterbury Road, Wilmington.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust is hosting the family-friendly event that allows participants to get up close with meat-eating plants, learn about their adaptations, and why it’s important to protect their natural habitats.

The event will include carnivorous plant-themed games, arts and crafts, and face painters. Garden guides will be on hand to answer questions and help guests find carnivorous plants in the garden.

Ethically-sourced flytraps will be for sale to benefit the land trust on a first-come, first-served basis.

Anyone interested in volunteering to help at the event may sign up online.

Masonboro Island Reserve in Wilmington was the latest to be highlighted in a multiyear campaign raising awareness of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and the role of these natural coastal areas.

State officials and guests, including N.C. Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, took a guided boat tour Friday of the reserve followed by a short walk along a trail as part of “Discover the N.C. Coastal Reserve” campaign. This was the fourth stop of the campaign that spotlights the role of the state’s 10 Coastal Reserve sites and programs.

The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve is a department of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, or DCM. The May 16 afternoon tour kicked off with remarks by DEQ officials, including the department’s Secretary Reid Wilson and Division Director Tancred Miller.

“The Masonboro Island Reserve and our other Coastal Reserve locations are great places to hike, swim, paddle, learn, and relax. Here, people from all over can connect and recharge with nature, all while boosting tourism and our local economy,” Wilson said in a release. “It’s critical that we restore and protect coastal habitats, and I’m proud that our state is a national leader in these efforts. Thanks to our partners, volunteers, commission and advisory committee members, and community leaders who help to preserve these coastal lands and waters for current and future generations.”

The Masonboro Island Reserve, which sits across the Intracoastal Waterway from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science, spans more than 5,600 acres comprised largely of marsh and tidal flats. It stretches nearly 8.5 miles, and includes 10 different habitat types, including those for various species of concern and threatened species such as loggerhead and green sea turtles, American oystercatchers, black skimmers, Wilson’s plovers, least turns and diamondback terrapins.

“Across our sites and through our stewardship, research, education, and training programs, our work is incumbent on the range of partnerships we foster to accomplish the exciting and challenging work of coastal management,” Coastal Reserve Program Manager Rebecca Ellin said in the release. “A special thanks to each of you who we work with to accomplish our mission. It is our hope that today provides the opportunity to connect and reconnect with this special place, the Masonboro Island Reserve, and with the people and work of many who protect it now and into the future.”

Programs spotlighted at the Masonboro Island Reserve included the science and monitoring at the site and how that information is used to educate and inform decision making, and how the area provides natural buffers to waves and storms, which enhances community resilience.

CMS Executive Director Ken Halanych and William “Bill” Raney, a member of the Masonboro Island Reserve Local Advisory Committee, also spoke.

“UNCW’s Marine Quest program has integrated Reserve-collected environmental data into academic curricula which helps students apply theoretical concepts to real-world environmental events,” Halanych said. ”UNCW’s Research Hatchery Operations team partners with the Reserve to support continuous water quality monitoring at the CMS pier which helps Hatchery staff monitor source water quality for life support systems and supports numerous ongoing research projects in the UNCW Research Sanctuary. This partnership helps grow our coastal workforce.”

The division is celebrating this year the 40th anniversary of North Carolina’s National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is designated by the state and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to protect special places, including Masonboro Island Reserve.

The “Discover the N.C. Coastal Reserve” campaign is to run through 2026 and include guests invited to visit reserves to learn more about the ecosystems they protect and the work occurring at each site. The next tour is expected to take place in the fall.

Update May 21: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has lifted a swim advisory for a soundside area in New Hanover County. The department announced Tuesday that water testing at the beach across from Whiskey Creek along the Intracoastal Waterway near marker No. 135 in Wilmington shows bacteria levels have dropped below state and Environmental Protection Agency standards for swimming and water play.

Original post:

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has issued swimming advisories at soundside areas in two coastal counties after waters at those sites were found to exceed federal recreational water quality standards.

The department announced Friday morning that test results of water samples collected in Beaufort County at the Pantego Creek public access, located at the intersection of East Main and Tooley streets in Belhaven, indicate a running monthly average of 37 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water.

That average exceeds the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s standards of a running monthly average of 35 enterococci per 100 milliliters based on five samples taken within 30 days, according to a DEQ release.

In New Hanover County, an advisory has been issued for the beach across from Whiskey Creek along the Intracoastal Waterway near marker No. 135 in Wilmington after test results taken May 14-15 indicate bacteria exceed state and federal levels of 104 enterococci per 100 milliliters for Tier 2 nondaily use sites.

Swimmers should avoid waters within 200 feet of a posted advisory sign.

Enterococci is found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals and, while it is not known to cause illness, studies show it may indicate the presence of other disease-causing organisms. People who swim or play in waters with elevated bacteria levels risk a greater chance of developing gastrointestinal illness or skin infections.

Testing at both sites will continue and the public will be notified when the bacteria levels dip to levels below the standards.

State recreational water quality officials sample more than 200 sites, mostly on a weekly basis throughout the coast between April-October. Testing continues through late fall into winter, but less frequently because fewer people are in the water.

A map of testing sites and additional information is available on the N.C. Recreational Water Quality Program’s website.

Cape Fear River Watch is inviting the region to use the power of the pen to express their passion for clean water to state rulemakers.

The organization’s “Postcards Against PFAS” is set from 5:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at Waterline Brewing, 721 Surry St., Wilmington.

Those who attend will have the opportunity to write postcards and emails to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, or EMC, and Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover.

The EMC’s water quality committee is to consider at its meeting in Raleigh on Wednesday whether to send to the full commission a proposed rule to establish monitoring and minimization requirements for dischargers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The full commission, whose role is to protect, preserve and enhance the state’s water and air resources, is scheduled to meet the following day.

Related: Committee to consider draft plans for 3 PFAS, 1,4-dioxane

Three PFAS – PFOA, PFOS and GenX – are anticipated to be included in the draft rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 12,000 PFAS, which are chemical compounds used in the manufacturing of a host of consumer goods, exist.

A draft rule presented to the EMC’s Water Quality Committee last March was largely crafted from input provided by the North Carolina Water Quality Association, whose members are from public water, sewer and stormwater utilities.

There are hundreds of industries in North Carolina that pay wastewater treatment plants to take their industrial waste. Those treatments plants do not remove PFAS.

Cape Fear River Watch is asking participants at next week’s event to urge Lee to muster his fellow legislators to pass three PFAS-related bills that call for reductions in PFAS discharges, studies associated with PFAS contamination, and prohibiting firefighting foams containing PFAS for firefighter training or testing. Those include House bill’s 569 and 570, and Senate bill 666.

An afternoon of environmental education and activities are planned for Wilmington’s 35th annual Earth Day Festival set for noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at Long Leaf Park.

Hosted by Wilmington Earth Day Alliance, there is no charge to attend the festival themed “Our Power, Our Planet.”

“It’s a fun-filled afternoon of live music, good food, environmental information and activities for the whole family,” organizers said. “More than 50 environmentally-minded exhibitors and vendors will be there, explaining issues that affect our environment and illustrating how you can get involved.”

Attendees can enjoy live entertainment by “old school” rock band, Au Naturales at noon, indie rock band, Tercel at 2 p.m. and reggae band, the Righteous Roots at 4 p.m.

The “Rapping Red Oak” will lead the children’s Nature Brigade Parade at 1:30 p.m. and perform children’s songs.

Anyone is welcome to join the community drummers and dancers drum circle at 3:30 p.m.

Food trucks expected to be on-site are Johnny Cheesehead, A&M’s Red Food Truck, all-vegan food trucks Well Fed Ed and Arabelle Cookin’ and chocolatier, Chocolate and S’more. Fermental Beer & Wine, Good Hops Brewing, Wilmington Brewing Co, Bill’s Brewing Co. Noni Bacca Winery and Panacea Brewing Co. will be selling beverages.

Culligan Water will provide drinking water, and guests are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles.

Great Outdoor Provision Co. donated a Hurricane-brand kayak that will be raffled off.

There is no charge to park on-site, or at the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center to take a shuttle to the festival.

Leashed pets are welcome in the grassy areas but not inside the tents or in the food area. Only trained service animals may accompany their humans on the WAVE Transit bus.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust invites you to celebrate all things pollinators at this year’s “Pollinator Palooza!”

The event being offered at no charge will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 26 at the land trust’s headquarters office, 3 Pine Valley Drive, Wilmington.

The family-friendly event will include educational activities and information regarding pollinators and native plants.

Organizers encourage attendees to arrive early for a chance to receive one of the 30 parsley plants that will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. There will also be seeds available for strawberry, cosmos, basil, nasturtium, and borage plants, which may be planted to create a pollinator garden.

The land trust is hosting multiple workshops with elementary afterschool programs in Onslow, Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties.

The event is part of the @ncscifest, a monthlong celebration and educational program that runs through April and highlights the importance of pollinators in nature and our food supply.

If you have questions about the event you may contact Bryce Tholen at bryce@coastallandtrust.org.

WILMINGTON — A study of possible environmental impacts associated with the proposed Wilmington harbor-deepening project is expected to be released in the fall.

The draft environmental impact study examines different alternatives for the North Carolina State Ports Authority’s plan to make room for larger container ships to get to and from the Wilmington port.

The study’s projected release was the latest update U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District officials shared at a public meeting Thursday night.

Fewer than 10 people turned out for the meeting, which follows a series of meetings the Corps hosted last year that touched on topics ranging from how material dredged from the channel might be used to how the project might affect cultural resources along the Cape Fear River.

The ports authority wants to deepen the harbor from 42 to 47 feet, widen the channel in multiple areas and extend the ocean entrance to the river.

Authority officials say the changes are needed to accommodate larger container ships coming from Asia, which would keep the Wilmington port competitive with other East Coast ports.

The changes would accommodate large vessels that can carry 14,000, 20-by-8-foot shipping containers that have been traveling through the Panama Canal since its expansion in 2016.

But a host of concerns have been raised about the proposed project, with environmental experts and advocates arguing that deepening the channel could exacerbate saltwater intrusion through to the Northeast Cape Fear River and adjoining creeks, eradicate fish habitat, harm cultural resources, and disproportionately affect minority communities along the river.

The environmental study is exploring three possible alternatives, including dredging to a depth of 47 feet, which the ports authority prefers, dredging to a depth of 46 feet, or maintaining the current depth and width of the channel.

Once the draft study is published, the Corps will open a 45-day public comment period as part of the required process in creating the final document.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District will be providing an update this month about the conditionally authorized project to deepen the Wilmington harbor.

The public engagements scheduled for Feb. 13 in Wilmington will be similar to one the Corps of Engineers hosted last summer, when the public got an opportunity to meet staff and discuss the North Carolina Ports Authority’s proposal to deepen the harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet. The plan also calls for widening the channel in multiple areas and extending the ocean entrance to the Cape Fear River.

The changes are needed to keep the Wilmington port, which is more than 25 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, competitive with other East Coast ports by making room for larger container ships coming from Asia, ports authority officials say.

The changes would accommodate large vessels that can carry 14,000, 20-by-8-foot shipping containers that have been traveling through the Panama Canal since its expansion in 2016.

A public comment period on the project closed last July.

Residents of New Hanover and Brunswick counties and environmental groups have raised several concerns about the project’s potential impacts to fish habitat, cultural resources, minority communities along the river, and saltwater intrusion through to the Northeast Cape Fear River.

Once a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed project is released, the Corps will open a 45-day public comment period on that study.

The public review and comment period is expected to open late this year, with a final environmental impact statement projected to be released fall 2026.

The meeting will be held 7-8 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern North Carolina – Brigade Campus, 2759 Vance St., Wilmington.

Additional information about the project may be found online.

More than 5,000 individual plants will be available for area residents during the 27th TreeFest in Wilmington.

Scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17, and Saturday, Jan. 18, at Independence Mall inside the JC Penney corridor, hours for both days are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and only while supplies last.

Editor’s emphasis: “only while supplies last.” That means you snooze, you lose. Coastal Review assumes no responsibility for ornery latecomers, nor will we respond to complainers’ vile nastygrams.

Grown by the North Carolina Forest Service Nursery in Goldsboro, tree species for this event include longleaf pine, Atlantic white cedar, eastern red cedar, red maple, river birch, American persimmon, flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, live oak, and white oak. Silky dogwood and Indian grass will also be available.

Households can select up to five trees or grasses from the available selection for free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Organizers said a $5 donation per household is suggested and greatly appreciated.

TreeFest is coordinated by the volunteer-based TreeFest Committee and sponsors, including Wilmington, Friends of Wilmington Skateparks, Independence Mall, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, North Carolina Forest Service, New Hanover County Soil and Water Conservation District, and University of North Carolina Wilmington’s departments of environmental sciences, and biology and marine biology.

“Trees offer many benefits to our community, from flood protection and improving water and air quality, to creating shade and oxygen, to providing food and nesting sites for birds and wildlife,” TreeFest Committee Member Amy Mead said in a release. “By making sure we have a robust tree canopy, we can help our community be more resilient to the impacts of weather.”

Experts will be on hand during TreeFest to help with plant selection and care. Organizers suggest that residents consider the size of the site, whether utility lines exist above and below ground, the proximity to buildings, and site conditions like soil type, drainage and sun exposure.

The TreeFest committee asks visitors to bring their own nonleaking bag or bucket to take home their bare-root seedlings in an effort to reduce single-use plastic waste.

Trees are bare root and should be planted as soon as possible.

TreeFest began in 1997 after hurricanes Bertha and Fran decimated tree populations in the Wilmington area. Since then, more than 150,000 tree seedlings and grasses have been given to residents.

A traveling exhibit on the Revolutionary War will be featured later this month in the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington.

On display from Dec. 11-29, “The American Revolution Experience” includes display panels and interactive digital kiosks that rely on “storytelling, illustration, technology and primary accounts to connect modern audiences with the people and places that shaped the birth of our nation,” organizers said.

“The traveling exhibit includes 12 panels highlighting thematic connections between profiled individuals and three interactive kiosks that connect to the full digital biographies, provide documentary context on the Revolutionary War and offer information on how to visit the places tied to these individuals today,” organizers continued.

The American Battlefield Trust, a land preservation and education organization, and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution collaborated on the exhibit.

An opening reception is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11. Cricket Crigler with the Daughters of the American Revolution will speak about the project to develop the exhibit with the American Battlefield Trust. After the reception, guests are invited to view the panel exhibition. This is a free event and light refreshments will be served.

Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is located at 814 Market Street and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, students, and military with valid ID, and $5 for ages 6-17. There is no charge for free for children 5 and under and for museum members.

Two Wilmington-area advocacy groups are teaming up this Saturday to organize their final watershed cleanup of the year.

Cape Fear River Watch announced this week that is partnering with Keep New Hanover Beautiful for their Second Saturday Cleanup, which will take place from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. in the Smith Creek Watershed at the intersection of Princess Place Drive and Evans Street.

The groups do not have a cleanup scheduled for December, and they encourage those interested to make sure not to miss this one.

The Smith Creek Watershed in Wilmington encompasses 13,818 acres and 55.2 miles of streams. It’s also home to about 26,000 people, according to county documents.

Parking Saturday is available at 2929 Princess Place Drive. Look for the CFRW cleanup signs.

The organizations said they will provide pickers, bags, safety vests, gloves, “and a good time.” They encourage participants to dress appropriately, bring sunscreen and water.

Participants should register online.

From oyster farm tours to seafood festivals, North Carolina is ready to “shellebrate” Oyster Month.

Oysters are more than just the centerpiece of a get-together, these bivalves improve water quality while filtering saltwater for food, protect and help restore shorelines, offer refuge for marine animals, and are packed with nutrients.

Organized by the North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the NC Oyster Trail, a tourism and promotion campaign, this is the fourth year the state has celebrated the ecologically and economically important mollusks.

Jane Harrison, a coastal economist with Sea Grant, told Coastal Review that North Carolina Oyster Month began in 2023. “We had been shellebrating NC Oyster Week in October since 2020, but expanded it last year because folks wanted to host events all month long.”

The purpose of setting aside the entire month to promote awareness of the state’s oysters is to highlight “the wonder of N.C. oysters and raise their profile,” Harrison continued. “We inform folks on where you can eat them, their role in the ecosystem, how we ensure a sustainable seafood supply, and opportunities to protect our treasured coastal environment.”

She said the Oyster Month events are “a blast,” and encourages attending as many “as you can.”

The state has recognized October as North Carolina Oyster Month, as well.

“North Carolina is home to a valuable and productive coastal ecosystem with many champions who work together to protect it and the keystone species that benefit the state’s marine and coastal environments with food provision, water filtering capacity, and fish habitat,” begins the proclamation Gov. Roy Cooper’s office released Tuesday.

North Carolina has taken action to promote and protect the oyster and the industry that depends on it.

The state has been working to restore and protect oysters since 1915, resulting in the creation of thousands of acres of harvestable reefs and nearly 400 acres of oyster sanctuary in the Pamlico Sound. The General Assembly commissioned in 2018 the “North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture: A Vision to 2030.” That same year, North Carolina became the first in the Southeast and sixth in the nation to join the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Shellfish Initiative and launch the N.C. Shellfish Initiative, according to the proclamation.

Two years later, the NC Oyster Trail was launched, an effort of the Coastal Federation, Sea Grant and North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association to promote oysters, and the “Oyster Restoration and Protection Plan for North Carolina: A Blueprint for Action” was released, now in its fourth edition.

Coastal Federation Oyster Program Director Erin Fleckenstein leads the blueprint effort.

Fleckenstein explained that the nonprofit plans to participate in many of the events scheduled this month, and expects to launch an outreach campaign. Those following the organization’s social media will be able to catch a video series with different “how-to” topics such as how to recycle shells, create the perfect wine and oyster pairing, and shuck an oyster.

Fleckenstein noted that during the month-long celebration and with the start of wild harvest season, a lot of empty oyster shells will be produced. It’s critical to make sure these shells are properly recycled so they can be used to create more oyster reefs.

The nonprofit has worked with government and community partners to provide a few dozen places coastwide for oyster lovers to drop off shells for recycling. Find the locations are listed on the organization’s website, nccoast.org/shellrecycling.

“We discourage using shells for anything other than building new oyster reefs,” Fleckenstein said. “Shells make a great substrate for new oysters to grow on. Currently, we don’t have enough shells to build all the reefs we want to. Oyster lovers can help ensure more oysters in the future by recycling their shells.”

Join the conversation on social media with #NCOysterMonth, #NCOysters, #GiveAShuck, and #KeepShuckin.

NC Oyster Trail provided the following schedule of events:

• Oyster Roast at Dune Street Raw Bar & Grill in Nags Head 3-11 p.m. Friday. The restaurant is celebrating its one-year anniversary. There will be drink specials throughout the day, and that evening, an oyster roast with Kinnakeet, Little Star and Ocracoke Oyster Co., oysters and live music by The Southern Split.
• North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City Friday through Sunday. The three-day festival features cooking demonstrations, an oyster shucking steam bar, live music, food, vendors, artisans, children’s activities, rides, fireworks and the Blessing of the Fleet, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Radio Island, between Morehead City and Beaufort. This ceremony honors the many commercial fishermen who have given their lives to their occupation, and to thank those who continue in the industry.
• Seraphine Oyster Fest in Durham noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Reservations can be made for the noon seating or the 2 p.m. seating when special menu of 12 raw oysters, including oysters from White Oak Oyster Co., Crystal Coast Oysters and Cherry Point Oysters, will be served. Oyster growers will be on hand to discuss their farms.
• 23rd annual Oink & Oyster Roast at Jolly Roger Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Slow roasted pork, fresh roasted oysters from Lighthouse Shoals Oyster Co. and live music with Phil Watson. Preorder tickets, $50, online. Tickets are $50 the day of the event.
• University of North Carolina Wilmington Science Open House 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. UNCW Center for Marine Science, Wilmington Visit UNC Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science for a fun day of science adventure with hands-on exhibits, tours of the Shellfish Research Hatchery, a visit to their oyster farm and food trucks too.
• A Celebration of the Gilded Oyster at the Empty Nest Studio and Gallery in Frisco from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday. A raffle for oyster-inspired jewelry and a wine tasting with Lee Robinson’s General Store.
• Oysters and Brews with Wrightsville Brewing in Wilmington 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9. Wrightsville Brewing has committed to donating 11% of proceeds from its Beer of the Month to support the Coastal Federation throughout October.
• Outer Banks Seafood Festival in Nags Head 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. The festival that highlights the state’s fishing industry and heritage features local seafood, and live music.
• Oysterberfest 2024 Wrightsville Brewing in Wilmington from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday Oct. 20. The brewery’s annual wild oyster season kickoff party and Oktoberfest celebration plan to have live music by Back Pocket Buddha and Birdwell Beat and steamed and raw oysters for sale.
• Shellebration Sundays at Coquina Fish Bar in Wilmington. Oysters will be offered at $1.50 each all day each Sunday in October. The restaurant will feature special oyster dishes each week.
• Seabird’s NC Oyster Happy Hour $1 oysters from 5-6 p.m. each Monday in October at the Wilmington restaurant.
• Sea Level’s NC Oyster Happy Hour in October at the Charlotte restaurant. Oysters are priced at $1.50 each from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• $1 Happy Hour Oysters at Shuckin’ Shack, Surf City from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for all of October.
• Seed to Table Oyster Trail Tours with Eco Adventures in Sneads Ferry. Meet working watermen and women at oyster farms near Permuda Island. Contact the company to book a tour.
• Oyster Farm to Fork Kayak Tours with the Coastal Federation Oct. 6, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30. Tours with Wanchese Paddle to the Coastal Federation’s oyster farm leave at 11 a.m. and will be followed with oysters from Dune Street Raw Bar & Grill. Register online.

State transportation officials are accepting public comment until Oct. 25 and have scheduled two informal meetings about proposed projects to replace the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and widen South Front Street.

​Plans are underway for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to replace the existing four-lane, steel vertical-lift bridge. Built in 1969, the 0.66-mile structure crosses the Cape Fear River where Brunswick and New Hanover counties meet.

The meetings are set for 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Fear Community College Union Station Daniel’s Hall Room on Front Street in Wilmington and at 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at the North Brunswick High School gymnasium in Leland.

Staff will be available for discussion and to answer questions. There will not be a formal presentation.

“The bridge replacement would help improve traffic congestion and mobility on a corridor that connects local communities and carries trucks transporting freight to and from the Port of Wilmington,” the project overview states.

The existing bridge is safe, but is reaching the end of its life cycle and must be monitored, inspected and maintained on a more frequent basis.

Submit comments regarding the bridge project by calling 984-205-6615 and using project code 10626 or emailing CapeFearMemorialBridge@publicinput.com.

For comments regarding the Front Street project, call 984-205-6615 and entering project code 10422 or email FrontStreetImprovements@publicinput.com.

For auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for either meeting, contact Diane Wilson, Environmental Analysis Unit, at 919-707-6073 or pdwilson1@ncdot.gov as early as possible so arrangements can be made. 

Those who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon prior request by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Cape Fear Museum of History and Science is joining this weekend in the worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration.

International Observe the Moon Night is from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the museum in Wilmington.

Plans include hands-on activities, exhibit explorations, moon observation, themed story time and more at the event being held rain or shine and at no charge.

Museum Educator Jameson McDermott expressed in a statement that the museum staff is excited to host the free event.

“It’s an evening to welcome the community to the Museum and come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts to learn about lunar science, exploration and discovery,” McDermott said.

Attendees can view the moon and other celestial objects from the museum par using telescopes provided by Cape Fear Astronomical Society.

Activities include building and launching a stomp rocket, learning about the supermoon expected on Wednesday and creating a supermoon superhero, coloring a space helmet and interactive stories.

Visitors can also check out the interactive Space Place exhibit, and learn more about the video game industry at the traveling Game Changers exhibit.

Thousands of dollars in rebates are available for commercial businesses, owners of apartment complexes and other large-scale property owners who want to help reduce the amount of pollutant-laden stormwater runoff reaching two Wilmington watersheds.

The city in January launched a green infrastructure cost-share rebate program, one intended to further boost ongoing efforts to cut down on the amount of runoff that flows from rooftops and other impervious surfaces during rainfall and into creeks and waterways directly downstream.

This new program specifically targets Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creeks watersheds, which collectively span a little more than 21 square miles and include connections to two Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway drainage areas.

Local government programs like New Hanover County Soil & Water Conservation District’s that focus on helping residents install nature-based features like rain gardens and cisterns, and host rain barrel sales, have become increasingly popular, said Anna Reh-Gingerich, watershed coordinator of Wilmington Stormwater Service’s Heal Our Waterways Program.

“We have waitlists and people are seeking out site visits, which is awesome, but we’re also trying to reach those commercial properties, those high-density developments and HOA (homeowners associations) properties to make sure that everybody has access to these resources too,” she said.

The cost-share program offers rebates up to $10,000 for eligible projects where property owners go above and beyond what the state mandates them to manage runoff from their properties.

“This is for going above that so that we can actually reduce the total volume of stormwater runoff rather than just maintain the status quo,” Reh-Gingerich said.

For example, a commercial business owner who replaces an existing parking lot of impervious pavement with a pervious surface or installs a pervious parking lot as part of a new development, would qualify, depending on the size of the project.

That’s just one of many options from which property owners can choose. Properties with room for larger-scale projects might consider installing a rain garden that includes native plants or constructing a wetland.

Install a cistern above or below the ground to capture stormwater runoff and use the water to irrigate greenspace. Remove an old concrete pad, slab or patio to create more greenspace, “because you’re removing impervious surface, which creates stormwater runoff,” Reh-Gingerich said.

There is also the option of installing a green roof, which has vegetation on it that helps soak in rain. A stormwater runoff mitigation method not common in the area, but one Reh-Gingerich said is included as an option in the city’s stormwater manual.

“It is cost-share so we do want property owners to invest in the projects that they’re putting in, but we want to offer a little bit of additional funding to help them make it happen,” Reh-Gingerich said.

The city has a brochure detailing the cost-share breakdown.

Reh-Gingerich estimates that the annually funded program will help fund about two projects each year.

These projects help implement further the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan the Wilmington City Council adopted in 2012.

The plan was created by the city in the mid-2000s in partnership with Wrightsville Beach, the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science, Withers & Ravenel Engineers, and the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, in response to heavily degraded water quality in the creeks.

Bradley Creek’s water quality has been impaired since the mid-1940s, according to the plan. Much of shellfish harvesting has been closed for decades in Hewletts Creek, the watershed of which by 2021 had about 25% impervious surface coverage and a population of about 20,000, according to a North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality report.

But efforts to reduce pollution in the watershed by reducing the amount of runoff going into the creek have been paying off, according to that report.

A North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Sanitary Survey from 2016 until 2021 noted that while shellfish harvesting in Hewletts Creek is prohibited, “significant strides have been made in reducing fecal coliform impacts,” the report states.

“Fecal counts at sampled sites have gone from tens of thousands of colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters (mL) in pre-2006 to the hundreds or tens of CFU/100 mL in the 2016-2021 sampling period, with some sites meeting the state coastal standard of 14 CFU/100 mL fairly consistently,” according to that report.

Quarterly sampling at four tidal sites on the creek coordinated by Dr. Michael Mallin, a professor at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science, substantiate water quality improvements in the creek. That sampling has occurred since 2007.

“It’s important to continue to do what we can on land because we all live downstream of each other and we’re all connected by the way that water flows,” Reh-Gingerich said. “So, what we can do to improve our stormwater footprint, the more that we can help protect these resources for years to come.”

UNCW, the largest landowner in the Bradley Creek watershed, has partnered with the Coastal Federation to install nearly half a dozen rain gardens and retrofit a number of parking lots since 2019.

Mad Mole Brewing has tapped the university as a resource for interns to help figure out how to reduce stormwater runoff coming from the property off Boathouse Road near Bradley Creek.

The business received funds through an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program grant awarded to UNCW to remove portions of impervious pavement from its parking lot and refill those areas with permeable pavers, explained Dano Ferons, Mad Mole’s operations manager.

“Our building has four downspouts in the back and two in the front and that runoff just goes straight out into Bradley’s Creek,” he said. “The goal is to get that first inch of rainfall from the roof into the permeable pavers up against the downspouts and then the rest of the parking lot could collect that first inch down at the end of the driveway.”

To capture that amount of runoff, they will have the parking slots at the two downspouts on the front of the building ripped up and replaced with the permeable pavers. A strip of pavers will be installed across an end of the parking lot to infiltrate rain water that flows across the lot.

The project, which is expected to be underway later this year, will cost about $10,000, Ferons said.

“But of that $10,000 we’re not responsible for any monetary valuation. Our entire contribution is going to be education, employee time and on-site resources,” he said.

Next on his list is figuring out how to best mitigate runoff coming from the downspouts on the back of the building, a project that would potentially be eligible for the city’s cost-share rebate program.

“We’ve got a curb back there in a private alley behind the building and [our intern] is going to see if we can knock out part of the curb and put a swale in,” Ferons said. “I’m not sure if we’ll be allowed to do that so the other option that we’re looking at is cutting the pipes and running them into rain barrels and then rigging up a pump system and making a rain garden out the back of the brewery in that same swale area. Then we would have a whole other area that we could put a rain barrel or potentially divert the downspout and use it for water around the grounds.”

Last summer, stop signs were targeted.

This summer, people.

The culprits who spurred an increase in complaints and 911 calls in July on Bald Head Island were not solely teenagers, but village officials are exploring ways in which juveniles — and their parents or guardians — might be held accountable for under-18’ers involved in unruly behavior.

Village officials have drafted an islandwide juvenile curfew, one that has been met with equal parts ire among property owners and longtime visitors who say a curfew unfairly targets teens and support from those who have been the brunt of the antics.

“It’s a safety issue,” Mayor Peter Quinn said during an Aug. 5 public hearing on the proposed curfew. “The idea of people acting up in the month of July is not new. It’s happened year after year. This year they’re throwing water balloons and egging. That’s why we’re looking for an answer.”

Admittedly, he said, they may not find one.

Some at the hearing suggested the village place cameras in areas of the island as a way to help capture the identities of anyone involved in unscrupulous or illegal acts.

Several years ago, state lawmakers raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction for nonviolent crimes to 18.

“We can only take temporary custody (of a juvenile) for very limited circumstances, offenses and situations,” said Bald Head’s Public Safety Chief Josh Gibson.

The closest juvenile detention center is in Wilmington. The time it takes an officer to make the round-trip drive to the Port City and complete the booking process means the officer is off the island for hours, he said.

The process for filing a complaint against a teenager caught, say, throwing water balloons at passersby, entails a time-consuming process through the juvenile services system, one that is backlogged, Gibson said.

A curfew would give officers an option to address some of the problems without going through the courts, he said.

“Once they get to the age of 18, we have options,” he said. The proposed curfew is “a tool in the toolbelt. I think it’s to address activity in general. A curfew will not fix all the problems.”

Officers never caught the underage perpetrators who last summer ripped up nearly 50 stop signs throughout the island, Gibson said. The summer before that, juveniles were graffitiing, he said.

Under the draft ordinance, a curfew would be in effect between 11:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. During those times, anyone out under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Village officials explained that the timeframe of the proposed curfew coincides with the ferry schedule to give anyone under 18 who works on the island and lives on the mainland a window of time in order to remain in compliance.

Parents or guardians of kids caught breaking the curfew would be cited a $250 fine.

“It would place the onus on the guardian,” Village Manager Chris McCall said.

Juvenile curfews are not a novel concept in North Carolina. Ahoskie and Kinston are among municipalities here in the state that have adopted curfews.

Opponents of Bald Head’s proposed curfew argue it would unfairly punish all juveniles because of the actions of a few, is bad PR for an island that touts itself as “family friendly,” and is government overreach.

Tom and Pam Schlosser said their 17-year-old son is a hard worker and good steward of the island who, from time to time, stays out past the proposed curfew to hang with friends on the beach or catch a movie at a friend’s house.

“This is a punishment,” Pam Schlosser said. “It is disappointing. This isn’t just adults being hit,” by water balloons. “These are teens. They work hard. This is a time for them to be teens.”

Tom Schlosser told village council members in the public hearing that the proposed curfew is crazy and undemocratic.

“The targeting of kids is crazy,” he said. “The island has always been a family-friendly place and it needs to stay a family-friendly place.”

Paul Brewer said the proposed curfew is “an overstep.”

“I think the adults here are probably more dangerous than the kids,” he said.

A curfew is no more of a punishment than having to wear a seatbelt in a moving car, Betsi Stephen said. Enforcing a juvenile curfew would send a message to parents and kids that public safety is taking bad behavior seriously, she said.

Gregg Thatcher, a self-described dedicated volunteer on the island, submitted a written comment to the village detailing a couple of “troubling incidents” he recently encountered one night. The first involved an inebriated, belligerent woman on the beach.

“The second occurred while I was driving between two beach accesses,” he wrote. “A water balloon was thrown at me while I was on my golf cart on Federal Road, striking me directly in the chest. This act was not only dangerous but also deeply concerning.”

Earlier that evening, another turtle nest monitor was egged, he said.

“If our volunteers and staff do not feel safe, they may no longer be willing to serve, which would be detrimental to our community,” Thatcher wrote. “These assaults must be addressed urgently.”

Councilman Scott Gardner categorized juveniles who live and visit the island into three groups: those who are well behaved and those who do typical, dumb things.

“And then there’s this other very, very small group who are above the law,” he said. “They don’t care. Their parents don’t care. Personally, I’m struggling with do we make things harder on the good to try and solve the problems with the really bad.”

The council did not take the matter to a vote.

The North Carolina State Ports Authority said recently that its fiscal 2024 results were “mixed, yet balanced,” with volumes above budget at both the Wilmington and Morehead City ports.

Financial figures were not included in the July 25 announcement, which are expected to be made public later this year.

“Fiscal Year 2024 marked a robust year for investment in our ports and a record year for intermodal volume, demonstrating NC Ports’ commitment to strengthening the efficient movement of goods across the state of North Carolina and growing multimodal capabilities from port berths to the hinterlands,” North Carolina Ports Executive Director Brian E. Clark said in a statement.

The authority said strong cash flow from operations and state appropriations allowed it to pour $80 million into its Wilmington and Morehead City seaports and its inland facility in Charlotte.

Officials pointed to projects at the Wilmington port including the second phase of the authority’s refrigerated container yard and container yard expansion. They said new warehouse space and berth renovations in Morehead City are nearly complete.

New gantry cranes are on order for both ports to keep pace with what officials characterized as strong general cargo demand.

The authority said state ports moved a record 17,000 containers by rail during the year, 13% above budget.

The Wilmington and Morehead City ports moved nearly 4.2 million short tons of bulk and breakbulk cargo during the year, 5% over budget. Officials said the ports handled “substantial volumes” of natural rubber, steel, lumber, cement, wood chips and wood pellets and noted that the commodities support “everything from U.S. infrastructure, aerospace and the region’s growing automotive industry.”

The authority also noted a nearly $11 million United States Department of Transportation grant through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. The money will go toward relocating the Wilmington port’s north gate closer to the designated truck route and away from neighborhood streets.

The authority noted a groundbreaking for an intermodal rail yard that will expand capacity to more than 50,000 container movements annually.

Officials also noted new roll-on/roll-off business at the Morehead City port. This includes imported finished vehicles such as coach buses and commercial vans and breakbulk and project cargo, including wind turbine blades, nacelles and towers for Timbermill Wind near Edenton.

Morehead City also has a new monthly ConRo liner service that Spliethoff Group launched between Belgium, the UK, and U.S. East Coast.

The authority said North Carolina, like other East Coast ports, faced global challenges in the container market, but there were bright spots.

“Given the challenges felt across the broader container shipping industry in FY24, remaining diversified between containers and general cargo continues to serve us well and remains a focus,” Clark said.

Land once eyed for major development proposals on the riverfront across from downtown Wilmington should be conserved, New Hanover County commissioners agreed earlier this week.

Following a public hearing Monday afternoon, the board approved a motion to continue the hearing and allow staff to draft a revised amendment to the county’s 2016 comprehensive land use plan to create a new conservation “placetype” specifically for the western bank at the confluence of the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers. “Placetype” is a planning term used to describe the mix of compatible uses within an area.

A conservation placetype is intended to protect significant natural areas by minimizing land disturbance.

The designation would articulate “our vision this area be conserved in its current state,” Commissioner Rob Zapple said as he made the motion, one that also includes adding a provision in the proposed revised amendment that the county will not agree to extend water and sewer utilities to the area.

Commissioners also agreed to direct county staff to search for state, federal and nonprofit funding and grants to help pay for the cleanup of brownfields and restore and preserve wetlands and estuaries on the western bank. That includes seeking out funding for the county to buy private properties along the river bank.

“What I’m in favor of is finding resources to purchase the property and compensate them justly,” Commissioner Jonathan Barfield Jr. said. “I’m hoping we can tap into some of the federal dollars that’s come down to our state and hopefully those property owners would be amenable to selling the property to the county and then, once we own it, then we could deem it as conservation land.”

Barfield was referring to the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, which is disbursing nearly $5 billion to states, local governments, tribes and territories to reduce carbon emissions and boost climate change resiliency efforts.

The Atlantic Conservation Coalition, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and The Nature Conservancy, has been tapped to receive $421 million from the program to work in conjunction with nonprofit organizations for conservation and restoration projects.

The commissioners’ unanimous vote was met with applause from people who are among what has become an overwhelmingly unified force in opposition to development on the western bank, a movement that began a few years ago when the county was presented with development proposals for a riverfront multistory hotel and a pair of luxury condominium towers.

Opponents have raised a host of concerns about development on the river bank, where flooding is exacerbated by the rising sea, raising concerns about safety, potential economic impacts and the effects of stormwater runoff on surrounding properties, including the National Historic Landmark USS North Carolina.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, maps indicate that by 2050, between 75% and 80% of land along the western bank will be anywhere from 6 inches to several feet underwater, Zapple said.

“Everywhere you look on there in developing the western bank it is problematic and, in my opinion, it’s not a good idea,” he said.

Almost all of those who submitted the nearly 3,000 public comments to the county earlier this summer agreed.

New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet made clear that the commissioners’ decision on Monday does not change the current zoning of the land, which is I-2 Industrial District, one that allows minor industrial uses and uses on a more extensive scale. It does not allow residential development.

“And so, if a development were to proceed that is consistent with the existing zoning … those are projects that if they can meet the technical standards of the ordinance, in fact can go vertical,” he said. “So, this has been a discussion around what the vision should be, not exactly what the zoning on the ground is and so there is, by right, zoning, largely I-2, on that side of the river.”

Wilmington resident Logan Secord, the first of several who spoke at the public hearing, said the county cannot allow the current zoning to be reflected in the comprehensive land use plan.

“We must find a way to protect this land within the authority given to us since conservation, notwithstanding any resources available to us, to see what we can do to protect us,” he said. “We cannot have on the record messages to developers to say yeah, you can put a five-story building there that’s going to be underwater, you can build residences there, you can pay for the initial expansion of utilities and resources and then we foot the bill. This amendment to the comprehensive plan moves us in that direction. It is a step and one that should be of many.”

Isabelle Shepherd, representing the Historic Wilmington Foundation and speaking on behalf of a number of organizations, including Cape Fear River Watch, Alliance for Cape Fear Trees, League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear, Cape Fear Historical Society, North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, said those groups agree all western bank parcels should be in the conservation placetype.

This “best preserves the historical integrity, cultural significance and natural environment of the area compared to creating a low intensity riverfront placetype as proposed,” she said.

Shepherd rattled off a list of considerations commissioners should take into account: Parcels on the western bank are part of a dynamic compound floodplain subjected to high tides, river flooding, and storm surge; the county’s unified development ordinance mandates development should not be risked in hazardous floodplains; development in flood-prone areas can lead to tax increases for county residents; developing the area would threaten historic and culturally significant lands; and that the land on the western bank is home to diverse ecosystems.

“The conservation development scenario would protect these critical habitats from the detrimental effects of urban development, such as pollution, habitat fragmentation and increased flooding,” she said. “Maintaining these natural assets ensures the sustainability of the local environment and its ability to provide essential ecological services. Our coalition understands the desire for development and that there are property rights concerns. We believe the hazardous condition of the area argues against the mixed use and low intensity development that are outlined as possibilities.”

Reprinted from North Carolina Health News

Last week, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a suit brought by Chemours. The chemical company, which manufactures GenX (HFPO-DA), a class of a per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, at its Fayetteville Works facility, challenged the health advisory established by the agency in 2022 for GenX in groundwater.

Chemours claimed the EPA set the advisory level too low — at 10 parts per trillion — and relied on faulty research to establish it. However, the three-judge panel ruled that the advisory was not a federal regulation and, therefore, rejected Chemours’ argument the EPA acted unlawfully when issuing a health advisory about the exposure risks of GenX in drinking water.

“Through the years, our community has learned that when companies like Chemours are not actively hiding the science, they are usually attacking it,” said Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear. “This is a win for public health and every resident harmed by GenX exposures. The courts got it right this time.”

In April 2024, the EPA established maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS in drinking water, out of the thousands of PFAS manufactured in the U.S. 

The court’s ruling means a consent order, established in 2019 between Chemours, Cape Fear River Watch, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, will remain intact — at least for now. Chemours vows to mount more court challenges.  

Under the consent order, Chemours is required to carry out specific tasks, such as drinking water well testing, for people who live near the site, including in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender and Columbus counties.

That includes extending testing to one-quarter mile beyond the closest well with PFAS levels above 10 parts per trillion and annually retesting any wells sampled. Additionally, Chemours is responsible for providing clean drinking water options, such as whole-house filtration systems, to those with wells contaminated with GenX compounds above 10 ppt.

For area homeowners like Wilmington resident and business owner Steve Schnitzler, whose well’s GenX level exceeded the health advisory standard when it was tested in August 2023, the court’s ruling means Chemours must keep providing safe drinking water to his home.

“I have four reverse osmosis systems in my house right now that Chemours paid for and will maintain for the next 20 years so that we can have clean drinking water,” he said.

‘Forever chemicals’

There are roughly 15,000 unique per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in the environment, according to experts. Because of their persistence in the environment, PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.” They are present in multiple products, including cosmetics and apparel, microwave popcorn wrappers, dental floss, firefighting turnout gear and some firefighting foams.

The chemicals are associated with such adverse health effects as increased cholesterol levels, kidney and testicular cancer, dangerously high blood pressure in pregnant women and decreased vaccine response in children.

The two most extensively produced and studied families of compounds, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), have been phased out in the U.S. Still, because they don’t break down quickly, they can keep accumulating in the environment and in the human body. GenX or HFPO-DA (hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid) was created as a replacement for PFOA.

PFAS Glossary

PFOA – Perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, is produced and used as an industrial surfactant, which helps things not to stick to one another in chemical processes. It also is a raw material for other forms of PFAS. PFOA was widely manufactured but has largely been phased out of production. 

PFOS – Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid was a key ingredient in Scotchgard before being banned by the European Union and Canada. Several U.S. states have banned the chemical, derivatives of which were also used in cosmetics. The EPA announced in 2021 that it would regulate the presence of PFOS in drinking water.

GenX – is a derivative salt of hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) and was manufactured by Chemours. It’s the substance initially found contaminating the Cape Fear River in 2017. GenX has been used widely in food wrappings, paints, cleaning products, nonstick coatings and some firefighting foams.  

A win for now?

Chemours plans to continue to press its case against the EPA’s position on forever chemicals and will next look to present arguments in a Washington, D.C., appeals court, according to Reuters. 

Looming in the background of the legal battle between Chemours and the EPA is the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The court ruled that federal agencies such as the EPA would no longer have the authority to use their expertise to interpret ambiguous laws. Instead, judges will assume responsibility for doing so.

The ruling affects the so-called Chevron Doctrine, which emerged from a 1984 Supreme Court case between Chevron Corp. and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The court ruled to defer to the experts at regulatory agencies when federal regulations were ambiguous, so long as the regulators provided a reasonable interpretation.

Could the Supreme Court’s ruling handicap regulators and tip the scales and favor corporations such as Chemours in future cases?

“The repeal of Chevron deference can cut both ways,” said Tom Fox, senior legislative counsel for the Oakland, California-based Center of Environmental Health. 

“After all, Chevron v. [Natural Resources Defense Counsel] in 1984 was a case brought by NRDC challenging the Reagan administration’s deregulatory actions under the Clean Air Act.” Fox said. “It could be argued that Loper Bright may make it easier to challenge deregulatory actions. It also could be argued that the court’s decision did not affect deference to agency scientific judgments. However, we have seen numerous examples of the Roberts court (and lower court judges) ignoring and/or cherry-picking facts, science and history.”

When asked what environmental groups and their supporters can do to prepare for a possible shifting legal landscape, Fox said to do their homework and stay vigilant.

“I would advise public interest organizations to be strategic in bringing cases in appropriate judicial districts,” he said. “In addition, the Loper Bright decision highlights the importance of science and community involvement in agency rulemakings.”

As a business owner, Schnitzler posed a question for those who place business interests above public health.

“This general ‘business can do no wrong, and we have to keep allowing [corporations] to do horrible things because otherwise we’ll stifle innovation and will stifle growth,’ at what cost?” he asked.

This article first appeared on North Carolina Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The state has secured about half of the $485 million it needs to replace the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Wilmington with a proposed high-rise, fixed-span bridge.

Built in 1969, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is a 3,000-foot-long steel vertical-lift bridge that connects Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

The U.S. Department of Transportation notified Congress Friday of the coming official announcement that North Carolina had been selected for a $242 million grant out of Bridge Investment Program-Large Bridge Project funds through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden administration announced.

“This major grant from the Biden Administration is a game changer for the people of Southeastern North Carolina,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday in a release from his office.

“The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is a critical lifeline for Wilmington and our economy, used every day by thousands of residents, tourists headed to the beach and truck drivers going to and from the port. I appreciate President Biden’s leadership and commitment to rebuilding our aging infrastructure and look forward to getting this transformational project underway,” Cooper said.

The bridge is currently safe and in fair condition in the wake of a major rehabilitation project completed this spring. However, its design is not up to modern standards, according to the state. It costs about $500,000 a year to maintain and operate the moveable span structure. More than 70,000 cars and trucks use the structure to cross the river each day and is projected to carry nearly 100,000 vehicles by 2050.

“This grant signifies our federal partners understand the challenges we face with continual and increasing maintenance costs of this aging structure that connects communities and carries trucks that transport freight to and from the Port of Wilmington and the need to respond to the tremendous growth this region is experiencing,” North Carolina Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said.

Discover more coastal celebrations and programs at Earth Day 2024. First held in 1970 to bring awareness to environmental issues, Earth Day takes place annually on April 22.

Long Leaf Park will have more than 50 environmentally minded exhibitors, live music, dancing, food trucks and family fun at the 34th annual Wilmington Earth Day Festival taking place noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 20.

Hosted by the Wilmington Earth Day Alliance, the theme this year is “Planet vs. Plastics.” There is no charge to attend. Parking is free at the park, 314 Pine Grove Drive, Wilmington, and at the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center, 2222 South College Road.

Organizers said there will be recycling and composting stations to help this be a zero-waste event and recommend bringing a refillable water bottle. T-shirts with the 2024 festival logo will be for sale.

“This is my favorite festival of the year,” said Valerie Robertson, publisher of Cape Fear’s Going Green magazine and volunteer with the festival in a statement. “Good music, good food, fun things to do. And it’s the biggest gathering of environmental groups in Wilmington, so if you’re looking for a group to join or a place to volunteer, it’s a great way to learn about opportunities.”

There will be live music with Yard Doggs, Rose Tattoo, community drummers and dancers, and The Possums. The Rapping Red Oak will perform children’s songs and lead the children’s Nature Brigade Parade after Yard Doggs’ performance.

There will be a raffle. The winner will take home a Hurricane Kayak donated by Great Outdoor Provision Co.

Food trucks will offer vegan and vegetarian options and will serve their food in compostable packaging and offer compostable cutlery. On-site will be Latin American plant-based street food from RiCoQui, and smash burgers and subs from Smash & Dash. New to the festival will be Eastside Food and Well Fed Ed.

Hi-Wire Brewing, Fermental Beer & Wine, Good Hops Brewing and Noni Bacca Winery will sell beverages and there will be fruit smoothies from Smart Smoothies.

Panacea will sell kombucha and hard kombucha, and Culligan Water will provide drinking water. Guests are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles.

Wave Transit will run free trolley shuttles between the senior center and the festival all afternoon. In honor of Earth Day, travel on Wave Transit on all routes will be free all day Saturday, April 20 across all services, including RideMICRO and Paratransit.

Leashed pets are welcome in the grassy areas but not inside the tents or in the food area. Only trained service animals may accompany their humans on the Wave Transit bus.

Festival sponsors include Ponysaurus Brewing Co., Wilmington Brewing Co., Fermental Beer & Wine, Good Hops Brewing, Coyle Solar, City of Wilmington Stormwater Services, New Hanover County Parks and Gardens, Heal Our Waterways, Hurricane Kayaks, Great Outdoor Provision Co., Boot Scrap Productions, Cape Fear’s Going Green, Wave Transit, Wilmington Compost Co., Culligan Water, and Modern Sound and Staging.

A scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope and its contributions to the exploration of planets, stars, galaxies and the universe make up a hands-on experience on display through June 23 at Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington.

“Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe” is a traveling exhibit through National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. Hubble, a space-based observatory launched and deployed by the space shuttle Discovery in 1990, orbits 326 miles above the Earth, according to NASA.

The exhibit features the telescope’s various instruments and the role that each one plays in providing new images and discoveries, and showcases Hubble’s images and data of planets, galaxies, regions around black holes, and many other fascinating cosmic entities.

Visitors also get a glimpse of the various hurdles Hubble faced in its career and discover the role that astronauts played in repairing and servicing the observatory, and be introduced to the James Webb Space Telescope launched Dec. 25, 2021.

Cape Fear Museum at 814 Market St. is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Standard admission prices are $8 for adults; $7 for seniors, students and military with valid ID; $5 for children 6-17; and free for children 5 and under and for museum members.

Note from the author, North Carolina historian David Cecelski: This is an updated version of a short essay that I first published two years ago. To write this version, I drew on additional research that I did in preparation for giving a special lecture to mark the New Bern Historical Society’s 100th anniversary. That event was held Nov. 12 at Craven County Community College in New Bern. The event was sold out and I was deeply impressed at the local interest in the subject. 

A friend in New Bern recently sent me an issue of the Raleigh News & Observer that he found in his family’s old papers. The newspaper’s date was Nov. 5, 1898. A front-page article was about a large white supremacy meeting at the Craven County Courthouse in New Bern.

That was only a few days before the massacre of Black citizens in Wilmington that was in the news so much a few months ago.

Wilmington, the state’s largest city at that time, was 90 miles from New Bern. However, as I read the issue of the News & Observer that my friend sent me, I couldn’t help but feel that what happened in Wilmington could easily have happened in New Bern, too.

‘White Supremacy Plum’

On that fifth day of November 1898, the News & Observer featured a large drawing of a plum on the top of its front page. The artist had labeled the fruit “White Supremacy Plum.”

Above the drawing was a headline: “A Fruit We All Like.”  Below the drawing was another headline: “We Will Pluck It on the 8^th.”

The Nov. 8, 1898, was the date of the fall elections. At the time, the News & Observer was playing a central role in a white supremacy movement that reached across North Carolina.

The story from New Bern appeared under the drawing of the “White Supremacy Plum.” Its headline read:

PATIENCE CEASES: Ringing Resolutions Adopted by White Men

With a summary of the story’s content appeared beneath those words.

WHITES WHO VOTE WITH THE NEGROES DENOUNCED

as traitors to race and country

Will have Nothing to do with them, White Labor To Be Employed Instead Of Colored, Strong Speeches by Shaw, Bryan and Others

The story began below those words. According to the newspaper’s correspondent, a mass meeting of “the white men of Newbern [sic]” had been held at the Craven County Courthouse. At that meeting, many of the town’s wealthiest and most influential white citizens had gathered to make a statement on white supremacy.

The chairman of the meeting was Alfred Decator “A.D.” Ward, a prominent local attorney. He was originally from Duplin County, where he had been mayor of Kenansville and where he had been elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Probably the most prominent of the city leaders at the meeting was James A. Bryan. At the time, Bryan was the president of both the National Bank of New Bern and the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Co.

He was also one of the largest landowners in the state of North Carolina. His holdings included, but were not limited to, more than 57,000 acres in what is now the Croatan National Forest.

Bryan owned and resided in what is now known as the John Wright Stanly House, which is one of the historic sites at Tryon Palace. Educated at Princeton, he later chaired the Craven County Board of Commissioners for two decades and served a term each as mayor of New Bern and state senator.

According to the story in the News & Observer, both James A. Bryan and A.D. Ward were among the local leaders that gave “enthusiastic and patriotic speeches” during the white supremacy meeting.

‘Deliverance from Negro Domination’

At the Craven County Courthouse, the white leaders passed five resolutions that were very similar to ones that the white supremacists in Wilmington passed that same week, just prior to the massacre and coup d’etat there.

In the first resolution, they resolved that:

“It is the duty of every white person, male and female, to do everything in their power to achieve an honorable deliverance from negro domination and its accompanying ruin and disgrace.”

At that time, African Americans made up about 65% of New Bern’s population. In any free and fair election, Black citizens would inevitably have held a significant number of offices.

The town’s African Americans did hold some elective offices, but relatively few. Black citizens held three of the 11 positions on New Bern’s board of aldermen, for instance. That was a large number compared to many other North Carolina towns, but far from what one could reasonably call “negro domination.”

In this first resolution, the white supremacists were announcing that they would no longer tolerate even that degree of Black participation in politics in New Bern or the rest of Craven County.

‘Traitors to their race and country’

The meeting’s second resolution read:

“That it is the sense of this meeting that from henceforth all white men who vote and ally themselves in politics with the negro shall be denounced and regarded as traitors to their race and country and as public enemies, and not to be associated with.”

A duly elected political coalition of Republicans (largely Black) and Populists (largely white) had governed North Carolina since 1894. In this resolution, the city’s white supremacists were threatening their white neighbors who persisted in supporting that coalition of Black and white voters.

The language of the resolution is noteworthy. In many parts of the world, and at many different times, extremist political movements have begun to refer to their political opponents as “public enemies” and “traitors to their race and country.” It is never a good sign, and of course it is often a prelude to great violence and widespread persecution.

The white supremacists in Wilmington also used that kind of language just before the shooting started.

‘Traitors to the white race’

The meeting’s third resolution read:

“That we denounce such traitors to the white race as make a business of organizing the negro, and we hereby warn [them] to desist from their efforts to further ruin and humiliate the white people ere the day of forbearance shall pass and the time shall come when an outraged people shall realize that such creatures are nothing more than beasts of prey to be driven away.”

In this resolution, New Bern’s white supremacists continued to use language that demonized their opponents. In this case, they were threatening local white leaders of the Republican Party.

Calling them “beasts of prey” also sounds very much like Wilmington just before the shooting started.

‘Brave and honorable men’

The meeting’s fourth resolution read:

“That while our brothers of the white race in other communities are bravely daring all danger to rid themselves and us of the dark cloud of negro domination, it behooves us to encourage them with the assurance that we, too, have resolved to use every means that brave and honorable men may for the deliverance and salvation of our State from the horrible fate which threatens.”

In this resolution, the white supremacists in New Bern were making clear that they knew what was about to happen in Wilmington and they supported it.

That they knew what was going to happen in Wilmington was not surprising. By the Nov. 5, 1898, it was widely known that white supremacists were planning to take control of Wilmington three days later, even if they had to resort to violence in the streets, massive electoral fraud and military rule.

Newspaper reporters from as far away as Chicago were already on their way to Wilmington because they had gotten wind of the coming storm.

In this resolution, New Bern’s white supremacy leaders signaled that they knew what was coming in Wilmington, too. They also seem to be saying that they would take similar steps in New Bern if necessary.

‘Preference to white people’

The white supremacists in New Bern intended the fifth and final resolution to encourage New Bern’s poor and working class white men to support their efforts. The resolution read:

“That we, the employers of labor, will give preference to white people in all cases wherever practicable.”

In this resolution, the town’s leading businessmen were promising white workers that they would hire them in their shops and factories over Black workers, even if the Black workers were more qualified and had more experience, if the white workers supported the “white supremacy ticket.”

They were, in effect, cutting a deal: side with us, and not your fellow Black workers, and we will look out for you.

The same thing happened in Wilmington.

The business leaders in both cities proved true to their word. In the coming years, that kind of racial discrimination in employment became universal, and as much a part of Jim Crow as separate drinking fountains and segregated lunch counters.

A different kind of coup d’état

The Nov. 8 election was said to have passed peacefully in New Bern, though we know very little about what might have happened there and gone unsaid.

We do know though that the white supremacists prevailed. There was a bright spot or two for the town’s Black citizens: Isaac H. Smith, a prominent local Black businessman, for instance, won a seat to the NC House.

But he was the exception. The white men at the meeting that the News & Observer described on Nov. 5, 1898, became the town’s mayors, aldermen, county commissioners, educational leaders, state legislators and U. S. congressmen for the next generation.

We also know that, in the weeks after the election, the white supremacists did not wait for the town officials that had not been up for re-election in 1898 to serve out their terms before they moved to replace them. They instead convinced the state legislature to dissolve the city’s charter and throw all of their political opponents, both Black and white, out of office.

The North Carolina General Assembly voted to repeal New Bern’s charter on Feb. 3, 1899. At that time, the legislators put the city’s assets under the authority of a small group of trustees.

The act went into effect a week later, Feb. 10, 1899.

Ten days later, the General Assembly passed another act to incorporate the City of New Bern. The legislators named a new board of aldermen, purged the city’s voter rolls, and set a date for elections later that spring. When the new charter went into effect Feb. 20, 1899, white supremacists held all the power in the city.

For the sake of white supremacy, the City of New Bern did not exist for those 10 days.

For more on that chapter in the city’s history, see Dr. Thomas Hanchett and Ms. Ruth Little’s excellent 1994 report on the history of two of New Bern’s African American neighborhoods, Long Wharf and Duffyfield.

In that way, the white supremacists in New Bern accomplished their own kind a coup d’état, much like what happened in Wilmington. Their coup was bloodless, as far as we know, but just as effective.

It could have been even worse. Judging from the Nov. 5, 1898, issue of the News & Observer that my friend shared with me, I find it hard not to think that, if things had gone just a little differently, and if a spark had been lit, we might well be talking about bodies in the streets of New Bern, too.

~

Coastal Review is featuring the work of North Carolina historian David Cecelski, who shares on his website essays and lectures about the state’s coast. He brings readers along on his search for the lost stories of our coastal past in the museums, libraries and archives where he visits in the U.S. and across the globe. 

New Hanover County, Wilmington, organizations and partners have worked together on plans to commemorate Nov. 3-13 the 124th anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington massacre and coup d’état.

Events leading up to the Nov. 10, 1898, massacre began in 1897 when the state’s conservative Democratic Party launched a white supremacy campaign to drive politicians with the “fusion” of the People’s or Populist Party and Republican Party out of office during the 1898 election.

White supremacists on Nov. 8, 1898, used threats and intimidation to stop African Americans from voting and tampered with the returns, leading to Democrats sweeping the election, according to Cape Fear Museum of History and Science.

Two days after the contested election on Nov. 10, 1898, a mob of armed white men marched to the office of The Daily Record, the local African American newspaper, and set it ablaze. After burning The Daily Record offices, a violent mob took to the streets, and in the Northside part of the city, attacked African Americans, where an unknown number died. Black and white residents were “banished” from the city. On the same day, local elected officials were forced to resign and were replaced by white supremacist leaders.

“Once generally referred to as a ‘riot,’ these events are now more widely understood to have been a white supremacist massacre and a coup d’état,” according to the museum.

Commemoration events officially begin with the Wilmington History 101: Lunchtime Lesson from noon-3 p.m. Nov. 3. Organized by the 1898 observance committee, this event will be at 1898 Memorial Park, 1018 N. 3rd St., as an opportunity for attendees to learn more about 1898 and the monument recognizing the lives lost and damage to the community.  

“Last year, the community turnout for our 1898-related events was truly amazing. We saw families and individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds in our community and region take part and learn about what happened more than 120 years ago, how it changed our community then and still shapes things today,” New Hanover County Chief Diversity and Equity Officer Linda Thompson said in a statement. “This year, we are fortunate to have even more opportunities taking place thanks to new community partners who were eager to get involved. There are events appropriate for all ages and we look forward to seeing our community turn out to learn more and continue healing forward.” 

Events throughout the 10-day period include the following:  

• 1898 Church Revival photo exhibit that will be set up from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 6 at Wilmington City Hall. This gallery will feature photos from many of the Wilmington area’s historic African American churches from back more than 100 years ago, along with other historical Black figures like Alexander Manly, allowing residents to look back at history and possibly see images of family from decades ago.  
• 1898 pastors prayer lunch 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Harrelson Center will bring local religious leaders from around the area together for a time of prayer to encourage healing and unity within the community.  
• Wreath-laying ceremony 10 a.m. Nov. 10 at the 1898 Memorial Park. Local elected officials from New Hanover County and Wilmington will join community members to commemorate the day the massacre and coup d’état took place.  
• Unity service 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10. The community is invited to St. Luke AME Zion Church for the service and message from Deborah Maxwell, president of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP.  

For more about all 1898 events taking place throughout the community, visit diversity.nhcgov.com/1898ILM.

WILMINGTON — Officials are looking to relocate the freight rail line that runs through the city across Cape Fear River and are applying for a grant to fund studying the proposal, the StarNews reported.

During a meeting Tuesday, the council gave the go-ahead to apply for a $2 million grant through Federal Rail Administration to fund further engineering and environmental studies, which will help determine the project’s viability.

The city also committed to “be responsible for the local grant match of up to $500,000 excluding contributions made by other local stakeholders,” according to the resolution that was unanimously approved.

Early plans show the proposed new rail line crossing the Cape Fear, possibly linking to a new highway crossing of the river, traveling north on Eagles Island and up the U.S. 421 corridor before rejoining the existing CSX line that runs to the rail yard in Navassa, the StarNews report continued.

Supporters of the proposal say that this realignment will improve rail access to the Port of Wilmington and improve the flow of traffic.

The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, study type will be $500,000 and the NEPA study and document is to come in at $2,000,000, making the total project $2,500,000, according to the agenda packet cover letter written by the city manager, Sterling B. Cheatham. NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions.

Brunswick, Pender New Hanover and Columbus counties also support the proposed realignment and applying for the federal grant.

A 2017 feasibility study put the cost of rail realignment to be more than $750 million.

WILMINGTON — The idea was to award developers who go that extra mile to protect natural resources.

Builders who take the time to think creatively in an effort to be environmentally responsible deserve to be recognized. So went the conversation that initiated what would become the Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Coalition.

An alliance of groups normally thought to be at odds with one another – environmentalists and developers – the coalition is now a platform on low-impact development, a concept that some believe will eventually become the norm in building rather than the exception.

“For a builder to stretch beyond meeting a particular rule or regulation and being more creative than that and going further than that is significant,” said Donna Girardot, executive director of the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association.

This LID method is a rain garden at the Brunswick Government Center that captures runoff.

Girardot, one of the stewardship’s originators, remembers the first awards banquet that the homebuilders hosted seven years ago in Landfall, one of Wilmington’s premier gated communities.

With little funding, the Girardot’s group invited anyone thought to be interested in learning more about the projects being awarded.

“It was kind of an experiment to see who would actually come,” Girardot said.

The turnout was better than anticipated and the banquet fostered what would become a long-lasting dialogue on best practices to contain and recycle stormwater runoff, which is now the largest source of water pollution on the coast.

The homebuilders and the Wilmington Regional Association of Builders sponsored the first event, honoring developers in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties in southeastern North Carolina.

“Then we started thinking about it and we didn’t want people to think this was just about builders rewarding builders,” Girardot said.

So, they invited the N.C. Coastal Federation and other environmental groups to join in.

“It has just kind of built over the years and here we are,” Girardot said. “It’s taken a whole separate identify all of its own. We’re proud of the way it’s come about. I’m proud of the relationship we have with the Coastal Federation.”

Lauren Kolodij, the federation’s deputy director, said that before the stewardship, there wasn’t really a dialogue about low-impact development between environmental groups and developers.

Federation board member David Paynter, left, and Rep. Mike McIntyre.

“We’ve been at odds over the past with low-impact development,” she said. “This has become a lasting opportunity for us to have these discussions.”

Before this year’s awards banquet – held in Wilmington Feb. 23 – participants were invited to join in an education seminar about low-impact development.

Low-impact development, or LID, is a land and engineering approach to managing storm water runoff much different than typical conventional storm water management practices.

“Instead of taking and building the retention ponds that you see all over the state, it looks things like rain gardens, rain barrels, bioretention areas, infiltrating and storing rainwater and putting it back into the soil,” said Cameron Moore, the HBA’s Business Alliance for a Sound Economy director of governmental affairs.

“At the end of the day the developers are operating a business,” he said. “If we can reduce the amount of curb and gutter, the amount of drainage issues, there’s a cost-saving element to the developer, who passes it down to the consumer. They have to look at these things in different elements to keep their costs down so they can keep the housing costs down.”

Guest speakers at this year’s event included U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, and Roya Stanley, director of the Policy and Technical Assistance Team in the Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program at the U.S. Department of Weatherization. Both lauded the stewardship coalition’s efforts to promote low impact-development.

A cistern is a LID technique that collects rain water from a roof top.

The HBA has a joint grant with the Coastal Federation to research current state and local stormwater rules that may actually impede some LID practices.

More than two years ago, the HBA began work on a LID policy manual as a guiding document to help developers, Moore said.

“What we found moving through it is that there were a lot of things that we saw in the regulations that could potentially stymie a residential or commercial developer,” he said.

The state is also looking at LID efforts.

“I think the state recognizes that we need to look at alternatives to the way we’ve been managing stormwater,” said Mike Randall of the N.C. Division of Water Quality’s stormwater program. “I believe LID meets all of the state requirements so we encourage people to do LID.”

Randall said the stewardship coalition is one outreach effort that goes a long way in changing developer’s mindsets with regard to stormwater management.

“I don’t think it’s as simple as saying, ‘Don’t do it the way you’ve been doing it,’” he said. “I think it is changing. The traditional methods right now are the easy way to go. I think, in time, people will be the motivator. They will have the expectations. I think it’s going to take that shift.”

And the Winners Are..

.The winners of the Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Coalition’s Awards for 2012 are:

Significant Achievement

• Sunset Beach Fire Station #2, Sunset Beach

Outstanding Recognition

• New Brooklyn Homes at Robert R. Taylor Estates, Wilmington
• South Front Apartments, Wilmington
• Snipes Academy of Arts & Design, Wilmington
• Wilmington Convention Center