Press Releases

North Carolina’s Clean Energy Plan lays out a path for the state to become a leader in clean energy innovation, with goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create economic opportunities and foster affordability. After a robust, statewide stakeholder process, the draft of the plan is now available for public comment.   

One of the goals at Camp Lejeune’s Gottschalk Marina is to always do its best. The 64-slip marina at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune exclusively serves those connected with the military. “These men and women go out every day and do their best for us, and I figure the least we can do is do the best for them and their families while we help protect the environment,” said Marina Manager Sammy Landrum. In keeping with this motto, Gottschalk Marina has set the bar for other marinas by becoming the first Department of Defense facility in North Carolina to receive certification as a Clean Marina.

The N.C. Oil and Gas Commission will meet Tuesday August 13, 2019, in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building in downtown Raleigh.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board will hold its fifth meeting in Cherokee on August 21. Topics for the August 21 meeting include updates on the department’s public participation plan, N.C. Community Mapping System and Executive Order 80. The board will also hear presentations from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health and Human Services Secretary and Tribal Employment Rights Office staff.

The N.C. Sedimentation Control Commission will meet Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019, in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building in downtown Raleigh.

Today, the Administrative Law Judge presiding over the Duke Energy appeal of the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) coal ash closure decisions issued a significant ruling in favor of DEQ.  The ALJ affirmed that DEQ had proper legal authority to elect the closure option for each coal ash impoundment.  The ALJ’s decision to grant DEQ’s partial motion to dismiss will limit the scope of the appeal as it moves forward.

State recreational water quality officials today lifted a precautionary swimming advisory along the waterfront in Swansboro.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources (DEMLR) and the Sedimentation Control Commission will host a public hearing on Thursday, August 1, to receive public comments and review the rules codified in 15A NCAC 04. 

As Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) trustees, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are seeking the public’s input on the draft restoration plan and environmental assessment related to the 2014 Dan River coal ash spill. The draft restoration plan considers projects to restore damaged natural resources or replace resource services lost as a result of the spill. The NRDAR process is separate from closure and cleanup activities.

RALEIGH – The state Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board meeting scheduled for Aug. 5 has been cancelled while the board continues its review of the hexavalent chromium science. The next meeting will be Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. More information, including an agenda, will be available online at: https://deq.nc.gov/news/hot-topics/genx-investigation/secretaries-science-advisory-board.