Press Releases

RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Resources (DWR) advises the public to avoid contact with green or blue water in Jordan Lake due to a potential algal bloom that was reported to the DWR Algal Bloom Dashboard on July 8, 2022. The potential bloom was reported to be present near the Farrington boat ramp in Chatham County.

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been notified that Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Best approved the proposed Consent Order filed last week in its entirety. The order holds Colonial Pipeline accountable as the responsible party for the state’s largest gasoline spill, requiring the company to take specific remedial actions and pay nearly $5 million related to the August 2020 fuel release in the Oehler Nature Preserve near Huntersville.

The State Water Infrastructure Authority will meet Wednesday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m. and Thursday, July 14 at 9:00 a.m. at the Steve Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center in Raleigh. The public may listen to the meeting online or by phone.

State recreational water quality officials today lifted a water quality swimming advisory at an ocean-side site in Brunswick County.

The Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) will hold a public hearing on July 21, 2022, on an application by Timbermill Wind, LLC, to construct a 189-megawatt wind energy facility in Chowan County.

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

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will collect Red Snapper carcasses from recreational fishermen during the upcoming Red Snapper-mini season.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record Graysby Grouper (Cephalopholis cruentata) that may also be a world record. Edward J. Tait of Little River, S.C. caught the 3-pound, 0.8-ounce fish offshore of Ocean Isle Beach on June 30. The previous state record Graysby Grouper weighed 2 pounds, 3 ounces, and was caught offshore of Masonboro Inlet on May 31, 2022.

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

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