Press Releases

State environmental department Secretary Donald R. van der Vaart today named Braxton Davis, director of the state Division of Coastal Management, to lead the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries effective immediately.

During a town hall meeting in Walnut Cove on Thursday, a Southern Environmental Law Center attorney acknowledged that Governor McCrory has done more to address the decades-old problem of coal ash than the previous North Carolina governor.

North Carolina’s chief environmental agency announced today that it will go beyond state and federal requirements to ensure minority communities are not negatively impacted by Duke Energy coal ash landfills.

The ozone season begins Friday as state and local environmental agencies renew their daily air quality forecasts for ozone in metropolitan areas across North Carolina. 

State officials have signed an agreement that will allow a company to safely transform a former industrial landfill into a large sports complex with greenways and ballfields in Asheville.     

WHAT: Public meeting on the draft proposed coal ash risk classifications for Marshall Steam Station

WHEN: 6 p.m. March 29 (registration for speakers starts at 5:30 p.m.)

WHAT: Public meeting on the draft proposed coal ash risk classifications for Belews Creek Steam Station

WHEN: 6 p.m. March 24 (registration for speakers starts at 5:30 p.m.)

March Madness isn’t just about basketball; it also can describe the pollen season.

Pollen levels in North Carolina generally reach their highest levels in early to mid-spring when many native trees are flowering, so many pollen sufferers are approaching their most maddening season.

WHAT: Public meeting on the draft proposed coal ash risk classifications for G.G. Allen Steam Station

WHEN: 6 p.m. March 22 (registration for speakers starts at 5 p.m.)

State officials are inviting people to a public hearing March 23 to provide feedback on the draft permit Duke Energy is seeking to construct and operate an industrial landfill to handle coal ash and other wastes at the utility’s Dan River Steam Station in Rockingham County.