Press Releases

Officials with the N.C. Division of Water Resources are urging people to avoid contact with algal blooms that have been identified at Waterville Lake in Haywood County and the Tuckasegee arm of Fontana Lake in Swain County.  

Nonprofits operating in 13 hard-hit North Carolina counties will get $810,000 to help volunteers rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew, Governor Roy Cooper said today during a visit to Robeson and Columbus counties.

State officials responding to manure spill in Catawba County

Officials with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality are testing water quality in Pott Creek northwest of Lincolnton after 200,000 gallons of manure spilled into the waterway earlier this week.

The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the N.C. Division of Coastal Management are urging the public to act responsibly during the July Fourth holiday at the Masonboro Island Reserve, a research reserve and dedicated state nature preserve.

Staff with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality today inspected Chemours’ Fayetteville facility and verified that the company is containing wastewater from the byproduct GenX, preventing the unregulated chemical compound from discharging into the Cape Fear River.

Officials with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality are urging the public to avoid contact with green or blue water in the Chowan River due to an algal bloom that has lingered in the area since June 12.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Secretary Michael S. Regan made the following statement Tuesday after Chemours’ announcement regarding GenX: “Chemours’ announcement today to capture, remove and safely dispose of the wastewater that contains the chemical compound known as GenX from the Cape Fear River is a step in the right direction. However, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services plan to continue to investigate this issue until we have answers to address the concerns of downstream water users.

Staff with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality will sample the water in the Cape Fear River for an unregulated chemical compound known as GenX starting today and continuing Thursday. DEQ staff will sample at 12 locations this week and will continue collecting samples for analysis in the same locations for the next three weeks. Today, DEQ staff in the Fayetteville regional office are collecting water samples at the Chemours plant that produces GenX during industrial processes, the Bladen Bluff intake and their finished water, and a water supply well in Bladen County.

Officials with the N.C. Division of Water Resources announced today that the location of a failed pipe segment that caused a June 13 wastewater spill in Durham County has been identified and repaired. The repair was completed Wednesday.