Press Releases

A general permit for marsh sills, a type of “living shoreline,” is now available to people in coastal North Carolina who want to stabilize estuarine shorelines. Over the past several years, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM) has participated in regulatory, research, and education efforts to promote the use of living shorelines, options that use native materials such as plants and oyster shells, as alternatives to traditional bulkheads and revetments for shoreline stabilization and erosion control in estuarine areas of North Carolina.

Today, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) ordered Duke Energy Progress, LLC to excavate all remaining coal ash impoundments in North Carolina. After conducting a rigorous scientific review of Duke Energy’s proposals for Allen, Belews, Cliffside/Rogers, Marshall, Mayo and Roxboro facilities, and conducting public listening sessions in impacted communities, DEQ has determined excavation of all six sites is the only closure option that meets the requirements of Coal Ash Management Act to best protect public health. The coal ash must be disposed of in a lined landfill.

The N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council will discuss the state’s record rainfall this year and the outlook for the coming months at its annual meeting on April 4.

RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) partially granted Duke Energy’s request for variance to extend the the Coal Ash Management Act (CAMA) closure deadline for two coal ash basins at the L.V. Sutton Energy Complex (Sutton Plant) today. 

RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today posted a draft permit and announced a new public comment period for Duke Energy Progress, LLC’s requested modification to their H.F. Lee Energy Complex NPDES wastewater discharge permit #NC0003417.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today posted a draft permit and announced a new public comment period for Duke Energy Progress, LLC’s requested modification to their H.F. Lee Energy Complex NPDES wastewater discharge permit #NC0003417. On Feb. 21, the Division of Water Resources issued a permit to with an effective date of April 1, 2019. The division did not complete all the public notice requirements and is re-noticing the permit for another 30-day public comment period.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) will host a public meeting and public hearing Tuesday, April 23, on the proposed coal ash beneficiation project at the Duke Energy Progress, LLC former Cape Fear Power Station. The hearing will be held in the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center in Pittsboro.

The state Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board will meet on Monday, April 1, in Raleigh to discuss methyl bromide Acceptable Ambient Level and hexavalent chromium.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality today approved two actions for the Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC’s Belews Creek Steam Station located at 3195 Pine Hall Road, Belews Creek, NC, in Stokes County. The first is a renewal of the NPDES Wastewater Permit and the second is a Special Order by Consent. Both actions included a comment period that concluded on January 25, 2019.

Bald Head Woods Reserve, located on Bald Head Island, is now partially open to visitors after closure due to Hurricane Florence.   The Loop, Middle, and East Trails, located in the southern portion of the Reserve, south of Federal Road are now open to visitors. Visitors should continue to exercise caution when visiting the site and be aware of the risk of natural hazards such as biting insects, poisonous plants, and regular vegetative debris associated with maritime forest ecosystems.