Nc Deq News Today

East Greensboro residents who travel miles for groceries and a downtown developer who shops in Adams Farm want different things for a gravel parking lot at South Elm Street and

As of October 25, 340 of 1,772 positions in the Department of Environmental Quality were vacant, including new, time-limited positions created to administer federal funding programs.

The proposed quarry has been contentious since 2019. Quarry opponents unsuccessfully fought the leases legality in court, but have relentlessly pressured state officials to reject the mining permit.

A November letter addressed to David Smith, deputy agriculture commissioner, from the NC Department of Environmental Quality described how inspectors found 10 feet of an unnamed stream had been illegally filled with dirt and rock.

Former DEQ Secretary Donald van der Vaart was appointed to the post by State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby last July. Van der Vaart, known for his anti-regulatory stances, served as DEQ secretary under former Gov. Pat McCrory.

In addition to climate change, North Carolina faces several environmental crises: Perfluorinated compounds in drinking water. The proliferation of the mining industry. Hazardous waste, air pollution, environmental justice.

This is the first time lawmakers have rejected a cabinet-level nomination since 2017.

  Communities of Color in Eastern North Carolina Want Wood Pellet Byproducts Out of Their Neighborhoods—And Their Lungs Belinda Joyner describes her home of Northampton County as a dumping ground for undesirable uses—hog farms, landfills. Northampton was also slated to host the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s compressor station before the project was canceled.  When Joyner stood at a podium in the North Carolina legislative building on Wednesday, she was most concerned about wood p...

Outgoing N.C. DEQ Secretary Will Head the EPA This story first published online at NC Policy Watch.  The U.S. Senate confirmed Michael Regan as the new EPA administrator Wednesday evening by a vote of 66-34. Regan, the outgoing Secretary of the Environment in North Carolina, is the first Black man to serve in the EPA’s top leadership role. “It’s a profound responsibility,” Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, said, a few hours before the vote. “He believes we ...