State of the waterways: New report details potential impacts of ordinance revisions
The Macon County Commission decided this month to delay consideration of changes to its watershed and floodplain ordinances until at least the new year, in part due to the organization of a Water Quality Advisory Committee and its new report on the state of Macon County waterways.
Volunteers needed for the ‘Big Sweep’ stream cleanup
Haywood Waterways is calling for volunteers to take part in a county-wide cleanup event that removes tons of trash from local waterways and roadways.
Word from the Smokies: Dedicated Smokies volunteer force protects elk and people
At 3:30 p.m., traffic flows smoothly along U.S. 441 past the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The 80-some elk living in this area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still invisible beneath the forest canopy as the sun shines bright and warm.
Volunteers needed for Little Tennessee
Mainspring Conservation Trust seeks volunteers to participate in the annual Little Tennessee River Cleanup starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14.
Want to monitor water quality?
In 1996, the Volunteer Water Information Network (VWIN) program was established as a water quality monitoring program for many Western North Carolina counties. In Haywood County, Haywood Waterways Association manages 25 sites on 19 streams. The program’s purpose is to provide long term water quality monitoring information to help leverage grant funding for water quality improvement projects.
WNC Sierra club to host talk on lithium mining, electric vehicles
Learn about the challenges and success of mining resources related to our transition to clean energy at the WNC Sierra Club.
Randy Francisco of the United Steelworkers Union will discuss ways that “environmentalists and labor can work together to ensure that workers and their communities are protected from harm from this mining.
Input sought on environmental justice initiative
People can soon comment on an environmental justice initiative outlined in Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 292.
The order reestablished an Environmental Justice Advisory Council and calls on state agencies to develop and track goals to improve environmental justice in North Carolina.
Earth Day brought big clean-up in Haywood
On Earth Day, April 22, members of the Haywood County Solid Waste Management team worked with a local environmental group to give away more than 600 reusable bags designed to hold recyclable material at four of the county’s convenience centers.
How the sale of Canton’s mill site may impact EPA efforts
In the hours following the announcement that Pactiv Evergreen’s paper mill property in Canton may have a new owner in the coming months, news came and fast and furious.
Bringing in the feds: EPA agreement mandates elements of Canton mill cleanup
Pactiv Evergreen, owner of the shuttered papermill in Canton, has been working to clean up two separate seeps leaking toxic substances into the Pigeon River under an administrative order of consent (AOC) with the Environmental Protection Agency.
