Environmentally Speaking

A court ruling this month reaffirmed the state environmental department’s decision to issue a freshwater discharge permit in Beaufort County that protects public health and the environment.    The state environmental department originally issued the permit in 2013 which granted permission for Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. to discharge up to 12 million gallons per day of comingled stormwater and groundwater from a proposed mine near Vanceboro into tributaries of Blounts Creek in Beaufort County.   

State environmental officials finalized last week a consent order for Duke Energy’s Riverbend facility in Gaston County. The consent order imposes additional monitoring of seeps to ensure protection of the environment. The order also includes fines for seeps that were supposed to be permitted back in 2010. The consent order is part of an overall strategy requiring full closure of the Riverbend facility by August 1, 2019, and in accordance with the state coal ash law The consent order was publicly noticed and the comment period was closed on Nov. 4, 2016. 

State environmental officials visited Cumberland County this week to tour a temporary storm debris site that was opened to help local residents clean up after Hurricane Matthew. Under the direction of Governor Pat McCrory, the state environmental department has activated more than 60 temporary debris sites for use in eastern North Carolina to collect yard waste, land clearing or demolition debris from the storm.

A conference room at the state’s environmental department turned into a classroom this week for a group of eighth graders from the Exploris charter school in Raleigh. The scope of their visit was to find out what the Department of Environmental Quality does to protect the state’s water resources.