Environment

From Star News: Chemours ordered to stop more wastewater discharges

By Eleanore Wood / November 1, 2017 / Comments Off on From Star News: Chemours ordered to stop more wastewater discharges

The EPA has found high concentrations of GenX and other chemicals 100 miles upriver from Wilmington. This report caused yet another order to stop the chemical dump by polluters.  The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality yet again ordered the company to stop dumping pollutants into the water or risk losing their permits.  This demonstrates exactly…

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From The Charlotte Business Journal: Customer advocate proposal would slash Duke Energy’s N.C. rate hike

By Eleanore Wood / October 26, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Charlotte Business Journal: Customer advocate proposal would slash Duke Energy’s N.C. rate hike

Customers should not be paying for Duke’s coal ash disaster. This week brings good news for North Carolina citizens.  The North Carolina utility customer advocate disagrees with Duke Energy’s proposed rate hike.  Instead of a 14% hike, advocate Chis Ayers recommends a hike less than a tenth of a percent.  This certainly speaks volumes about Duke’s…

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From Star News: Maybe public outrage can make legislature act on water safety

By Eleanore Wood / October 25, 2017 / Comments Off on From Star News: Maybe public outrage can make legislature act on water safety

For years Republicans in Raleigh have been slashing the budgets of environmental agencies.  They will not admit that their huge cuts have caused people in North Carolina to suffer.  They have only offered band aid solutions that don’t fix the problem at it’s source.  Governor Cooper requested $2.6 million in restored funding for watchdog agencies…

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From The News & Observer: NC lawmakers bully democracy with vetoes and inaction

By Eleanore Wood / October 19, 2017 / Comments Off on From The News & Observer: NC lawmakers bully democracy with vetoes and inaction

The NC GOP is playing politics at the expense of the people of North Carolina, most poignantly with the drinking water of Eastern NC.  The priorities of our current legislatures are clear: retain power at all costs.  It’s time they admit that years of slashing the budgets of watchdog agencies has lead to GenX and…

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From The Citizen-Times: At public hearing, proposed Duke Energy rate hike meets vocal opposition

By Eleanore Wood / September 28, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Citizen-Times: At public hearing, proposed Duke Energy rate hike meets vocal opposition

Legislators in Raleigh had the chance to prevent Duke Energy from raising their rates to pay for their coal ash mess and they didn’t do it.  Families in North Carolina who currently have high levels of  toxic hexavalent chromium in their water, and still are drinking bottled water years after it’s discovery, are now being told they…

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From WNCN: Dozens urge commission to reject Duke Energy’s proposed rate hike

By Eleanore Wood / September 27, 2017 / Comments Off on From WNCN: Dozens urge commission to reject Duke Energy’s proposed rate hike

Our current GOP-led legislature continues to cut funding to watchdog agencies protecting our air and water and are lenient on polluters. Legislators in Raleigh had the opportunity to stop Duke Energy from raising their rates to pay for coal ash cleanup and they didn’t do it.  Now, unsurprisingly, Duke wants a rate hike that would…

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From The Fayetteville Observer: We need safe, clean water but we get political games

By Eleanore Wood / September 25, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Fayetteville Observer: We need safe, clean water but we get political games

Legislators in Raleigh after learning of high levels of toxic GenX in the Cape Fear River and now in the well waters around the Chemours plant in Fayetteville, offered a pitiful amount of money to a local water utility as well as rolling back environmental protections which included repealing the plastic bag ban.  This bill…

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From The Richmond County Daily Journal: Duke customers say rate hike ‘not fair’

By Eleanore Wood / September 21, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Richmond County Daily Journal: Duke customers say rate hike ‘not fair’

The North Carolina state legislature had an opportunity to protect consumers from coal ash clean up costs and they refused. The General Assembly passed a coal ash “cleanup” bill that allows Duke Energy to leave coal ash in 10 of its 14 unlined pits across the state. What’s more, the bill allows Duke to pass…

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From The Daily Reflector: Matthew recovery is state’s problem now

By Eleanore Wood / September 15, 2017 / Comments Off on From The Daily Reflector: Matthew recovery is state’s problem now

Some coastal North Carolina communities are still waiting for $500 million in aid to recover from the flooding damage caused by Hurricane Matthew last year. After nearly a year residents and businesses are still waiting for the help they need to get back to normal life.  With Harvey and Irma now demanding resources, it is…

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From Star News Online: High levels of C8, other substances also found in groundwater at Fayetteville Works

By Eleanore Wood / September 14, 2017 / Comments Off on From Star News Online: High levels of C8, other substances also found in groundwater at Fayetteville Works

It’s no longer just The Cape Fear River.  High levels of chemicals are now being found in the ground water in Fayetteville.  This highlights our need to increase funding to the Departrment of Environmental Quality, the agency who’s funding has been cut over and over again and currently has a 2 year backlog.  So far…

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