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Presentations from 35th Annual Meeting Celebration!
Thanks to all those who attended our 35th Anniversary Celebration working with NC communities to promote environmental justice! Check out the presentations from our wonderful speakers by clicking on the links below: Fighting the Harms of Coal Ash – Complete Excavation, Increased Threats To Communities Deborah Graham, SalisburyBobby Jones, GoldsboroXavier Boatright, Clean Water for NC
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Pipeline protest reaches downtown Roanoke
By: Heather Rousseau, The Roanoke Times September 24, 2019 About 150 people gathered in downtown Roanoke to protest against two proposed natural gas pipelines on Monday. Pipeline Protest SUN SiNG Collective performs at a rally with about 150 people gathered in downtown Roanoke Monday protesting against two proposed natural gas pipelines. Protesters from Virginia,…
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Coal Ash Is Hazardous. Coal Ash Is Waste. But According to the EPA, Coal Ash Is Not “Hazardous Waste.”
By: Jeff Turrentine, NRDC September 6, 2019 A memorial to the workers that have become ill or died since they participated in the clean-up of the Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill Coal ash, a catchall term for several kinds of waste left over at power plants that burn coal, typically contains a number of substances harmful to human health—arsenic, chromium, lead, and mercury among them. Coal ash is incredibly dangerous. Short-term exposure…
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As Pipeline Construction Booms, Citizens Take Inspections Into Their Own Hands
By: Brittany Patterson, WV Public Broadcasting August 29, 2019 On a recent hot, August weekend, about a dozen citizens spent three days along the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Armed with cameras, smartphones and drones the volunteers traveled portions of the pipeline’s route under construction from Monroe to Doddridge counties. “There was several things that we saw,” said Summers County resident and organic farmer Neal Laferriere. Laferriere organized the three-day “violations blitz.” He said volunteers documented small problems like poorly-maintained erosion controls as well as much larger ones. “Sediment-laden water in one situation was overflowing…
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In the House, a major amendment to controversial Duke Energy rate-making bill hands the hot potato back to the Senate
By: Lisa Sorg, NC Policy Watch August 21, 2019 A key provision in Senate Bill 559 was upended in the House Tuesday afternoon, which made the measure more palatable to opponents but added uncertainty to it future. Colloquially known as the Duke Energy rate-making bill, it contained a controversial section that allowed the utilities commission to approve multi-year rate plans. Utilities could then avoid requesting rate hikes more often. While bill proponents in the legislature said it would add certainty to rate-making, there’s no guarantee that rates would decrease. If they increased, customers could be locked into higher bills for…
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Celebrating 35 Years of Working with NC Communities!
Join us in celebration of 35 years of working together! Sept. 21, 1:30 – 5:00 PM The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Avenue, Asheville Register on our Eventbrite Page! Clean Water for NC and our many community allies have been hard at work standing up against threats to drinking water, public health, and environmental justice. Join us for stories and updates from the frontlines of drinking water and community environmental justice action, Saturday, September 21st in Asheville! Program Highlights Include: Fighting the Harms of Coal Ash—Stories from Impacted Communities The Climate…
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With town of Eureka drowning in sewage bills, state takes control
By: Kirk Ross, Carolina Public Press August 7, 2019 In early June, the small northern Wayne County town of Eureka, got its official warning letter from the N.C. Department of State Treasurer that, due to concern about how the town was handling its sewer system funds, the state intended to take over its finances and assume direct control of the town. A month later, the department has made good on its promise, taking over the town’s accounts, impounding its books and financial records, and setting a new temporary budget for operations. It’s not the first time the state has taken over a town…
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BREAKING: Judge rules for DEQ in Round 1 of coal ash cleanup appeal
By: Lisa Sorg, NC Policy Watch August 2, 2019 State environmental regulators were not wrong in choosing the method of closure — excavation and removal of millions of tons of coal ash — at Duke Energy impoundments, Administrative Law Judge Selina Malherbe has ruled. Duke Energy had contested DEQ’s April 1 decision to require it to excavate all of the coal ash from nine unlined impoundments at its remaining six plants. The ash would then be placed in lined landfills onsite or offsite. Private lawsuits already have compelled Duke Energy to excavate ash from impoundments at eight of its 14 North Carolina plants. Duke…
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Federal Court Tosses Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Key Endangered Species Permits
By: Brittany Patterson, WV Public Broadcasting July 26, 2019 A federal court has thrown out two key permits for the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. U.S. 4th Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert Gregory said in an opinion issued Friday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t adhere to its mandate to protect endangered species when it fast-tracked re-issuing two permits to the natural gas project proposed to go through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. “In fast-tracking its decisions, the agency appears to have lost sight of its mandate under the ESA: ‘to protect and conserve endangered and threatened…
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Controversial Duke Energy ratemaking bill stalls in North Carolina
By: Elizabeth Ouzts, Energy News Network July 24, 2019 The proposal would allow state regulators to approve multiyear rate increases based on projected spending. A controversial North Carolina bill to allow regulators to approve multiyear rate increases for Duke Energy is stalled in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Authored by leaders of both parties, Senate Bill 559 cleared the Senate in May and looked poised for passage by the House of Representatives earlier this month. But it was pulled from the full House calendar July 10, reassigned to committee the following week, and hasn’t been debated or discussed since. The maneuvers are a strong sign…
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