Environment
Wind and whales: ‘No evidence’ links projects to deaths
Duke University marine biologist's assessment debunks claims advanced on Fox News The U.S. offshore wind power industry is in its infancy, with just a handful of turbines installed along the Atlantic coast. But they’re already being blamed for the deaths of whales that have washed up on beaches in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and elsewhere.
Spring is becoming the new summer, because of climate change
Pine pollen is gilding our windshields. Azalea blooms are emerging from their winter sleep. The gawd-awful Bradford pear trees are stinking up the side streets. Today, March 1, is meteorological spring for those of you who observe. Meteorologists measure the seasons a bit differently to make it easier to compare weather and climate statistics and […]
Four years ago, a whistleblower and I broke NC’s ag-gag law. The environment and public health are better for it.
Now that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled North Carolina’s ag-gag law — as it applies to news-gathering — is unconstitutional, I can tell you that I violated it. To be clear, I did not trespass, but I checked several of the law’s boxes. Likewise, the worker who agreed to document and obtain […]
After a series of winter storms, regulators approve new standards for power plants
Two years after Winter Storm Uri, which caused a massive power failure in Texas that caused more than 200 deaths, and just two months after another storm, Elliott, forced blackouts in parts of the South, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved new extreme cold reliability standards for power plants. However, the vote last week […]
ReBuild NC’s modular home program still faltering; hurricane survivors now receiving different housing types
ReBuild NC’s highly touted modular home program, which state officials have claimed would be the fastest way to get hurricane survivors out of motels and into permanent housing, continues to falter, according to state data. Numbers provided by ReBuild NC to Policy Watch this week show that Rescue Construction Solutions has built 20 modular homes […]
In lawsuit against the EPA, North Carolina environmental, public health groups get their day in court over PFAS dispute
Every day for more than 10 years, Richard Myers II unknowingly drank water contaminated with toxic PFAS. In the 1980s and ‘90s, when Myers was a student at UNC-Wilmington, DuPont – later spun off as Chemours – was pumping those chemical compounds into the Cape Fear River. From there, PFAS entered Wilmington’s drinking water supply and flowed from the taps of hundreds of thousands of people, including Myers.
Plastics, natural gas and substation attacks: environmental bills to watch this week
With Medicaid, guns and anti-LGBT legislation consuming lawmakers’ time, only a few environmental bills have been introduced this session. The pace usually picks up — a gut-and-amend bill here, an ambush provision there — so enjoy the relative quiet while you can. That said, here are several bills worth watching this week as they emerge […]
Vinyl chloride is not just an Ohio problem. More than 5 tons are emitted into the air in North Carolina each year.
In 2020, air permit holders in North Carolina emitted 5.5 tons of vinyl chloride — the same chemical that was released from rail cars during a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. To illustrate the magnitude of that environmental disaster, an estimated 550 tons of vinyl chloride was released in East Palestine […]
Special report: Despite urgency of climate crisis, several states see a backlash to renewable energy
BUCYRUS, Ohio — In four terms as a county elected official in northern Ohio, it was the most contentious issue Doug Weisenauer had ever seen. The state legislature had newly empowered county governments to drastically restrict wind and solar power development, a process formerly overseen by the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the meetings of […]
Federal government to send medical experts to site of Ohio train derailment
WASHINGTON — The federal government is sending medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing following the derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials that released into a small town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. A team from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be […]
Arsenic, benzene among contaminants found in soil, groundwater at former Weaver Fertilizer plant site
Contaminated soil and groundwater have been found at the former Weaver Fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, where a devastating fire forced the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents a little over a year ago. Several soil samples contained high levels of arsenic; groundwater had elevated concentrations of several chemicals, including nitrite, nitrate, and benzene — the […]
After investigation, state health, environmental officials say no radiation detected at former missile plant in Burlington
[Update: Thursday, Feb. 16, at 11:32 am: Carl Smith, who is quoted in this story, shared a screenshot of an email from the NC Department of Health and Human Services saying that it had completed the investigation and found no radiation hazard. “We could not replicate the readings that you provided in your original allegation.”] […]