Press Releases

Secretary Dionne Delli-Gatti announced a key leadership appointment for the Department of Environmental Quality. Sushma Masemore will serve as the Assistant Secretary for the Environment. 

The state Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board will meet on Monday, June 7, via WebEx, to continue discussion from the previous presentations on PFAS research and grouping strategies.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has issued an air permit for Madison Asphalt LLC, a drum-mix asphalt plant in Marshall, NC.

Through funding from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP), an interdisciplinary team of researchers at NC State University and Duke University have published a report that estimates the market and nonmarket economic losses from declines in submerged aquatic vegetation in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary.

A special meeting of the Air Quality Committee (AQC) of the NC Environmental Management Commission is being announced for Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at 9 a.m.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission voted on Thursday to take Draft Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 out for public comment and advisory committee review.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) will host a public hearing on Monday, June 21 on a draft permit modification for the Duke Energy Belews Creek Steam Station.

The Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Water Resources will conduct an online public hearing July 20, 2021, on proposed revisions to the 15A NCAC 02B .0200 and .0300 Surface Water Quality Standards and Classifications. Written public comments are being accepted through August 3, 2021.

Drought has returned to North Carolina for the first time in more than a year. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) has identified areas in 12 counties as currently experiencing moderate drought, due to an extended period of below-normal rainfall. Parts of 38 additional counties in eastern and central North Carolina are also experiencing abnormally dry conditions, and could reach drought status, if dry conditions persist. The drought map is updated at 9 a.m. every Thursday morning.  

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Artificial Reef Program, in partnership with the Oregon Inlet Artificial Reef Committee, sank a 108-foot tugboat Friday off Oregon Inlet.