New Hanover County residents and environmentalists spoke out Tuesday against Martin Marietta’s planned Castle Hayne quarry mine expansion, urging other alternatives that would lessen threats to water quality, wetlands and aquifer levels.
Coastal Land Trust director set to step back, become adviser
North Carolina Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks is officially stepping down as executive director to assume the role of senior adviser for the Wilmington-based nonprofit organization.
Opponents call EPA proposal on persistent PFAS ‘dangerous’
Speakers during an online public hearing Tuesday largely and roundly criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to repeal federal drinking water limits for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and delay the deadline for water utilities to comply with limits for related compounds by two years.
Advocates challenge proposed Castle Hayne quarry expansion
Environmental groups argue that Martin Marietta’s preferred plan to enlarge its Castle Hayne quarry would permanently destroy 140-plus acres of pristine wetlands and around 10 acres of open water classified as primary nursery and strategic habitat areas, and essential fish habitat.
Duke Energy takes nearly $130 million to kill its wind project
The Interior Department has announced that Charlotte-based Duke Energy will terminate its offshore wind lease off Bald Head Island and “refocus” the $129 million taxpayer buyout back on fossil fuels and nuclear power.
Nonprofit, developer carve path to protect Sledge Forest tract
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has come to a tentative purchase and sale agreement with Charlotte-based Copper Builders to preserve more than 3,200 acres of Sledge Forest on the Northeast Cape Fear River.
Stein to Chemours: ‘Pay to help us clean up the pollution’
Gov. Josh Stein says Environmental Protection Agency’s settlement agreement with Chemours on PFAS pollution will likely do little to help North Carolina and that the state Environmental Management Commission and EPA handling of these contaminants were “unfortunate steps.”
Shark depredation isn’t new, but widely seen as modern issue
Hemingway wrote masterfully about an aging Cuban fisherman’s heartbreak after losing a giant marlin he’d caught to hungry sharks, a problem that is not an emerging issue, as is often perceived, according to a recently published study.
Committee advances bills upending 40-year coastal policy
Bills advanced in the legislature Wednesday that would not only repeal the state’s 40-year ban on breakwaters, bulkheads, seawalls, jetties, revetments, and terminal groins, but also provide taxpayer dollars to build and maintain terminal groins.
Moratoriums leave NC shellfish farmers with few options
Shellfish lease moratoriums covering several coastal counties have pushed growers to the waters near Topsail Island, and the resulting pushback could lead to further restrictions, but growers say producing in-demand, presentation-perfect oysters is difficult enough without the fight.
Fishing guides cast concerns over shellfish lease proliferation
Special report: The state’s rapid growth of shellfish leases, especially water column leases where gear must float, has not only led to viewshed complaints from waterfront property owners but also frustration among fishing guides over the operations’ effects on access.
Crews set out to pull more abandoned boats from area waters
The North Carolina Coastal Federation, with a $450,000 grant from the BoatUS Foundation, has launched its latest effort to rid coastal marshes and waterways of abandoned and derelict vessels.
Serving public a passion for State Climatologist Jared Bowden
“I’m trying to help the public with their problems related to climate,” says Dr. Jared Bowden, a Rocky Mount native who became director of the North Carolina State Climate Office early this month.
EPA ‘strategy’ proposes to strike enforceable PFAS standards
The Environmental Protection Agency is wasting no time in advancing its plans to eliminate and reevaluate enforceable standards for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including the compound branded GenX found in the drinking water sources of tens of thousands of North Carolinians.
In death, a living legacy may thrive at Veterans Memorial Reef
Military veteran Thomas Marcinowski’s final wishes to be interred beneath the waves prompted him to form a nonprofit that enables others who served to have their cremains interred in eco-positive reef modules, including nine whose ashes are to be placed on the seafloor Monday.
Watershed guide aims to help towns develop land use rules
Waterkeepers Carolina created the guide with support from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, to provide options to protect water quality and flood protection that local governments can consider when implementing in land use rules.
