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More NC utilities are detecting PFAS in drinking water, but some aren’t telling their customers
Nearly a dozen public water systems in North Carolina, including four that had never previously reported PFAS in their drinking water, have detected levels of the toxic compound above the EPA’s proposed maximum contaminant level. And there is no state or federal requirement that these public water systems inform their customers of the results, leaving […]
In the shadow of Alcoa, West Badin residents want you to visit their town to see the environmental threats they live with every day
The hulking metal shell of the former Alcoa plant in Badin, in Stanly County, is roughly a half-mile long and severs the west side — which is historically and predominantly Black — from the rest of town. Beneath the 700,000-square-foot building pollution from the smelting operations is curdling. For much of Alcoa’s tenure, there were […]
Ratified and en route to the governor, House Bill 600 defangs state environmental law
It began as benign, but over the summer House Bill 600, the Regulatory Reform Act, transmogrified into a Medusa of environmental rollbacks and favors to pipeline companies, the hog and poultry industries and other special interests. When the bill was filed in April, it contained an anodyne section requiring publicly funded animal shelters to keep […]
For the second time in two months, Burlington discharged toxic 1,4-Dioxane into Haw River, Pittsboro’s drinking water supply
Update at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26.: The Town of Pittsboro released the first sampling results for 1,4-Dioxane: Raw Grab from Intake – 6.77 parts per billion Finished Water Grab – 5.26 bppb Chatham Park Tank – 3.23 ppb Chatham Forest Standpipe – 3.07 ppb Million Gallon Tank – 2.60 ppb Horton Tank – 1.74 […]
State budget includes money for PFAS, higher fees for electric cars, DEQ bonuses for speed
More than $55 million is included in the state budget to address PFAS contamination in drinking water, but given the vast scope of the problem in North Carolina, the money won’t go that far. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington would receive $35 million: Roughly half is allocated for public water extensions to private […]
Keep North Carolina filthy: Proposed budget could limit cities, counties from enforcing litter laws
This story has been updated with comments from Scott Mooneyham, spokesperson for the NC League of Municipalities, who could not be reached by deadline. Nearly 11.6 million pounds of litter was culled from North Carolina highways in 2022, according to transportation department figures, and that number doesn’t include the bags, bottles, dirty diapers, cigarette butts […]
Who’s who on the NC Lottery Commission, potential overseer of casinos
Faro, 5 Monte, Roulette, Keno, Bingo, Fan Tan, Twenty-one, Blackjack, Seven and a Half, 6 Klondike, Craps, Poker, Chuck a Luck, Chinese Chuck a Luck (Dai Shu), Wheel of 7 Fortune, Chemin de Fer, Baccarat, Pai Gow, Beat the Banker, Panguingue, Slot 8 machine: These are the many ways you could lose — or if […]
Vice President Kamala Harris to NC A&T students: ‘When you vote, it scares some folks.’
This is what happens when the vice president of the United States visits Greensboro: Excitable German shepherds, restrained by their military handlers, sniff every duffel, trash can, and bathroom of a terminal at Piedmont Triad International Airport. Poised, yet nervy and as quiet as bats, Secret Service agents in dark suits and sunglasses scan the […]
Durham housing developer allegedly violating Clean Water Act, jeopardizing Falls Lake
Falls Lake is going through some things. Fertilizer is running off from farm fields, entering its tributaries. Toxic compounds known as PFAS, whose sources remain a mystery, have been detected at and near the dam. And when it rains, clay muck flows from large clear-cut lots, suffocating nearby streams that feed the lake. Although the […]
DEQ fights back against ruling in favor of Wake Stone mine near Umstead State Park
Administrative Law Judge Donald Van der Vaart ignored evidence, committed logical errors and misinterpreted state law when he ruled in favor of Wake Stone, which plans to expand its Triangle quarry to abut Umstead State Park in Raleigh. Those are among the allegations included in documents filed last week by the NC Department of Environmental […]
Over the past decade, Wake County lost 11,120 acres of trees — equivalent to 2,700 Walmart stores
On the northern edge of downtown Raleigh, Capital Boulevard is a parched and treeless hellscape where the sun wilts all who dare to cut through its parking lots. New Bern Avenue, east of WakeMed toward Knightdale, is an endless steppe of pavement where people waiting for the No. 15 bus crowd under mangy crepe myrtles, […]
Labor Day numbers: Despite low unemployment, 7,200+ NC workers losing their jobs this year
If you are fortunate to have Labor Day off, thank a union. Although there’s disagreement about who to credit for suggesting the holiday — Peter J. McGuire or Matthew Maguire — both men were leaders in their respective labor unions. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland made it an official federal holiday. (Black people and other […]