News About the Catawba River
Recent news relating to the Catawba River is summarized below. Catawba Riverkeeper newsletters are archived at Catawba Riverkeeper Newsletter Archives, http://www.catawbariverkeeper.org/News/newsletters. Information organized by substantive issue is available at Catawba Riverkeeper Current Issues. Links to specific geographical areas of the basin can be found in the right navigation column.
Coal Ash Retention Ponds Taking Center Stage
FOX Charlotte News Story on Upcoming U.S. EPA Coal Ash Hearing in Charlotte, NC on September 14, 2010.
Settlement possible in Catawba River water war
The U.S. Supreme Court case pitting South Carolina against North Carolina for control of Catawba River water could be settled by the end of the year, and possibly not by the justices.
Sprawl on high: Losing N.C. mountain wilderness
Mary Newsom on sprawl in the N.C. Mountains (including the headwaters of the Catawba River).
Coal ash contamination worse then estimated
The Environmental Integrity Project, EarthJustice, and the Sierra Club released a study in August 2010, titled "Coal Ash Water- Contamination Much Worse Than Previously Estimated, With 39 Additional Toxic Sites Identified in 21 States."
Explaining End-of-Summer Fish Kills
Late-summer fish kills have become an annual event on NC and SC lakes. For an explanation, read on.
Toxic Chemical Prompts Warnings at Lake Wateree
Some of Lake Wateree’s most popular game fish are polluted with a cancer-causing material that has made them unsafe to eat in more than moderate amounts. Article by Sammy Fretwell with The State.
Foothills Conservancy protects large tract of land on Catawba Headwaters
The Foothills Conservancy has added two large tracts to the protected land in McDowell County, thanks in large part to two grants from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund. Article by Britt Combs, The McDowell News.
Catawba Basin on Drought-Watch Status
Lake levels and stream flows are slightly below normal and showing some signs of stress, the Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group said. Rain, or lack of it, will determine whether conditions worsen.
Draft 2010 Catawba Basin Plan Released
The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently presented a draft version of the 2010 Catawba Basin Plan to the North Carolina Environmental Managment Commission.
CRF Releases Results of Heavy Metals and PCBs Sampling on Mtn. Island Lake
On June 17th, 2010 Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman issued a press release outlining the results of lab tests on water, sediment and fish tissue samples taken from Mountain Island Lake.
An urban creek returns to nature
A public-private partnership is restoring Little Sugar Creek, which was channelized and capped in the 1960s to make way for development.
Mtn. Island Lake Water, Sediment and Fish Tissue Samples Collected; Now Being Analyzed
Catawba Riverkeeper, in conjunction with an independent laboratory, collected water, sediment and largemouth bass tissue samples from Mountain Island Lake on Thursday, April 29.
EPA Announces New Coal Ash Proposal
On May 4, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to regulate coal ash wastes.
Documentary filmmaker impressed with local vigilance for Catawba
The Catawba River is getting a spot in the limelight thanks to a documentary filmmaker and college students from South Carolina.
Rock Hill moves forward with plan to build velodrome
Along the overgrown riverbank where the Catawba Indians once walked, Olympic cyclists might soon be racing... Wylie Lakekeeper Ellen Goff applauds anything that will get more people down to the river, but worries that in this economy, there might not be enough done to protect against potential pollution from the development.
Set limits to protect Wateree
The Wateree River flows 75 miles through the heartland of South Carolina. It moves canoes through the lush Congaree National Park -- and it soon could move an unrestricted amount of arsenic from the South Carolina Electric & Gas power plant upstream.
New Sewage Plant at ReVenture Park
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities is planning to build a new $197 million wastewater plant in proposed business park on the former Clariant (Sodyeco) property on the west side of the Catawba River. The plant would serve Mt. Holly via a pipe installed under the Catawba River into Mecklenburg County.
Mountain Island Lake Impaired
NC Division of Water Quality's draft 2010 Impaired Waterbodies List includes a large portion of Mountain Island Lake, the main drinking water supply for the Cities of Charlotte, Gastonia and Mount Holly.
