Pollution Coverage

Morning rain fails to extinguish landfill fire in NE Raleigh

The steady rain that fell Wednesday morning dampened but did not extinguish a fire that's been burning for days at a Raleigh landfill.

WRAL News

Residents want answers and accountability for toxic chemicals in NC drinking water

Years after chemicals made by Chemours polluted drinking water for hundreds of thousands in North Carolina, many residents are still fighting to get access to clean water.

Liz McLaughlin, WRAL Climate Change Reporter

Fact check: Do 100 corporations produce 70% of all greenhouse gas emissions?

If you're on the climate doom side of the internet, you may have seen claims that blame 100 corporations for producing 70% of all the harmful emissions that are driving climate change, otherwise known as greenhouse gas emissions. PolitiFact checks the claim.

Ellie Borst, PolitiFact reporter

Local leaders urge the EPA to increase clean car standards

The cost of higher gas prices is an immediate worry for drivers and policymakers. The longer-term toll of fossil fuels - to the climate, health and national security - was on the agenda Wednesday for a group of local and state environmental advocates who are urging the federal government to enact stricter standards for vehicle emissions.

Chelsea Donovan, WRAL reporter

Urban or rural, poor communities suffer more pollution, early death because of it

Every day, millions of Americans including thousands of North Carolinians, feel the effects of pollution from hot spots in cities to hog and poultry industry particle matter.

Ali Ingersoll, WRAL Investigative Data Journalist

State investigating site of former NC apartment complex for asbestos

The demolition of a condemned property with asbestos in Williamston has left a downtown business owner with more questions than answers.

Chapel Hill residents concerned over possible housing complex on top of coal ash site

This month, Chapel Hill approved a memorandum of understanding and will soon begin the process of developing on top of land filled with toxic waste. The town hopes to build low-income housing on the site, but experts and residents are wary of this plan.

Chapel Hill hopes to build affordable housing on top of toxic coal ash. Will they be able to safely?

A large mound of toxic coal ash sits right across from the Chapel Hill Police Department, looming over residents who walk the greenway along Bolin Creek.

Maggie Brown, WRAL multiplatform producer; Joe Fisher, WRAL reporter

Fact check: Is Biden sending taxpayer dollars to big polluters?

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin, tweeted: "The US has made strides in reducing carbon emissions that other parts of the world have not. Meanwhile, (President Biden) is trying to send taxpayer dollars to manufacturers overseas that do not abide by the same standards we do at home." PolitiFact checks his claim.

D.L. Davis, PolitiFact reporter

Friends use trash found on Fla. beach to make Christmas float

Two friends pick up beach trash every day. They are using that trash to create their holiday float for a Christmas parade.

New study links indicators of pollution and poverty with sex ratio of births

A new study has linked pollutants and poverty with changed in the ratio of boys and girls born to millions of parents.

Pittsboro leaders, residents concerned about water pollution in the Haw River

Town leaders were alerted on Monday afternoon that the City of Greensboro - upriver from Pittsboro on the Haw - had exceeded an agreement for the amount of 1,4 dioxane allowed in the Haw River.

Study: Nearly 26,000 tons of pandemic-related plastic waste in the ocean

A new study has found that plastics from the COVID-19 pandemic weighing approximately 25,900 tons is now polluting the world's oceans.

Environmental activists press for more action on air pollution from NC lawmakers

Environmental groups on Tuesday called for state leaders to do more to address air pollution in North Carolina.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Advocates say move away from gas-powered vehicles will make big dent in NC's air pollution

Environmental groups on Tuesday called for state leaders to do more to address air pollution in North Carolina.

Fact check: How much CO2 did Bezos' rocket dump into atmosphere?

When uber-billionaire Jeff Bezos blasted off from a launchpad in Texas for a fast and short trip to near-space, he ignited a burst of claims about the outsized carbon footprint of his adventure. PolitiFact checks those claims.

Jon Greenberg, PolitiFact reporter

Fast food waste rapidly filling the ocean with plastic

According to a new study highlighted by 'Nature,' the main source of plastic litter accumulating along coasts is plastic packaging from fast food.

Wood pellet plants located in some of NC's poorest communities

Residents of some of the state's poorest areas on Wednesday criticized state leaders for offering incentives to the wood pellet industry to settle in their communities, polluting the air and water.

Wood pellet plants harming eastern NC communities, sickening residents, critics say

Residents of some of the state's poorest areas on Wednesday criticized state leaders for offering incentives to the wood pellet industry to settle in their communities, polluting the air and water.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Critics seek more regulations on NC wood pellet industry

Eastern North Carolina residents and community organizations rally at the legislature for more environmental regulations on the wood pellet industry.

NC fines Chemours over improper treatment systems along Cape Fear River

North Carolina regulators fined The Chemours Co. nearly $200,000 on Wednesday for failing to properly construct and install water treatment measures at its Fayetteville Works plant on the Cape Fear River, the Fayetteville Observer reported.

Pandemic pollution dip benefits asthma sufferers

Portland State University research ties lower air pollution levels since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to fewer asthma-related problems.

RYKE LONGEST: Farm Act makes important records secret, opens loopholes for industry

Tuesday June 9, 2020 -- North Carolina's hog industry won over the public interest in the General Assembly last week, but it's not too late for Gov. Roy Cooper to act. The legislature amended SB 315, the NC Farm Act, to make swine farmers' public records exempt from public inspection and codify a new loophole in the longstanding swine waste lagoon and sprayfield moratorium. It's a one-two punch that would shroud polluting farms in secrecy while allowing them to expand for the first time since 1997. The governor can still choose to veto.

EPA report: Inspectors didn't police GenX limit because they didn't know about it

For most of a decade, the EPA relied on the company to police itself on PFAS chemical rules because inspectors weren't told about them.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Federal grand jury wraps with no criminal charges for Chemours

Company that makes GenX in Cumberland County tells shareholders federal investigators are closing the file without charges.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter