Statewide citizens group slams North Carolina’s coal ash pond rankings

Contact: Statewide and Eastern North Carolina: Bobby Jones (919) 394-0727 Western North Carolina: Jeri Cruz-Segarra (828) 651-9576 Charlotte Area: Amy Brown (704) 301-6209 Winston-Salem Area: David Hairston (336) 655- 3413, Caroline Armijo (919) 358-5057 An alliance of North Carolinians directly impacted or threatened by Duke Energy’s coal ash pollution today released its Unifying Principles demanding…

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NC DEQ’s blatant bid for control

Over the past few months, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has seemed determined to have complete environmental regulatory control with little regard for federal or public input. In this endeavor, DEQ has taken every chance to highlight how external forces, including citizens groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are simply getting in its way.

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Community Networking for Coal Ash Cleanup in N.C.

Our North Carolina team continues to work directly with those most impacted by coal ash. In November, we helped organize the second statewide gathering of ACT (Alliance of Carolinians Together) Against Coal Ash, a powerful grassroots group of residents living near current or proposed coal ash dumps. In Stokes Co., outside of Duke’s Belews Creek…

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Two steps forward, one step back on coal ash in N.C.

North Carolina communities impacted by coal ash celebrated two positive strides forward recently, only to be disappointed by another fast move on the part of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and Duke Energy that keeps too many citizens in limbo in terms of resolving polluted drinking water.

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NCDENR needs to step up

Since the Dan River coal ash catastrophe of February 2014, there’s been more foot-dragging than problem-solving by Duke Energy and DENR to solve the state’s coal ash crisis. But citizens like Amy Brown are keeping the pressure on, and Appalachian Voices is right there with them.

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DENR is a “BOOR”

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is acting like–to use its own term–a “bureaucratic object of resistance.” The agency’s creative interpretation of its mission statement is just one reflection of the McCrory administration’s broader hostility to the notion that public servants have a responsibility to protect the natural resources and therefore the public health and welfare of the Tar Heel state.

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