Press Releases

The Department of Environmental Quality’s Dam Safety Program is currently accepting a second round of applications for the North Carolina Dam Safety Grant Program, which will close at 5 p.m. on June 19, 2026. 

MOREHEAD CITY – An advisory against swimming was posted today at a sound-side site in Brunswick County, where state officials found bacteria levels in the water that exceed the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s recreational water quality standards.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources will hold a public hearing on July 14 to accept public comments on water quality impacts from Martin Marietta Materials Inc.’s proposed expansion of a limestone quarry in Castle Hayne, located in New Hanover County.

The Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is accepting public comments on a draft air quality permit for Egger - Lexington Particleboard Plant in Davidson County.

Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson took legal action on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to stop Brenntag Mid-South from continuing to illegally discharge contaminants into state waters and require the company to act immediately to clean up the damage it’s caused.

The Division of Air Quality is accepting public comments on a draft air quality permit for ATI Specialty Materials – Bakers Plant in Union County.

Eleven new and amended Marine Fisheries Commission rules are now in effect, including rules pertaining to False Albacore management, pot marking requirements, shellfish leases and franchises and various permits.

To kick off the sampling season for the Western N.C. Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Program, NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson visited Jean Webb Park on the French Broad River in Asheville to demonstrate how DEQ’s Division of Water Resources staff sample for E. coli in local waterways. 

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) will meet June 18 at the Double Tree New Bern Riverfront, 100 Middle St., New Bern. Members of the public may attend in-person or join the meeting online. The CRC Science Panel will present its findings regarding oceanfront hardened structures.

The 2026 recreational flounder season will open Sept. 1-14 in Coastal and Joint Fishing Waters of the state.

The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve is accepting applications for several local advisory committees (LACs). Community members are needed for each of the Coastal Reserve’s 10 sites: Bird Island Reserve, Bald Head Woods Reserve, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Masonboro Island Reserve, Permuda Island Reserve, Rachel Carson Reserve, Buxton Woods Reserve, Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, Currituck Banks Reserve and Emily and Preyer Buckridge Reserve. 

Today, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced a $1.6 million nature-based flood resilience project that will create floodplain storage and restore natural streamflow to reduce flood risk and recurring flooding in downtown Bladenboro. The Bladenboro South Main Street Flood Resiliency Project is funded by the NC Flood Resiliency Blueprint within DEQ.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record for the Graysby Grouper (Cephalopholis cruentata).

Recent rainfall helped improve drought conditions in some parts of the state, but most of the state remains in extreme or severe drought, according to the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council. The exceptional drought classification has been removed.