News & Updates
Much-needed money for drinking water infrastructure may be on its way
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
The Water Resources Development Act, which passed both the House and the Senate and awaits the president’s signature, apportions some much-needed money...
North Carolina, we should have known better
- By: Will Hendrick
- News
One big lesson of Hurricane Florence: North Carolina has failed to learn from the recent past. As part of my job as an environmental lawyer at Waterkeeper...
The Law that Changed America
- By: Marc Yaggi
- News
Today is the 46th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the law that changed America. The Clean Water Act passed in 1972, a time when the nation’s rivers...
Eastern Europe’s Rivers and Their Advocates Fight for Life
- By: Gary Wockner
- News
Photos and text by Poudre Waterkeeper Gary Wockner In October of 2018, I had the good fortune to travel to Eastern Europe’s Balkan countries to attend...
Take Heed: Get Out the Vote
- By: Lesley Adams
- News
Last week, as Hurricane Michael quickly strengthened from a tropical depression to a life-threatening Category 4 hurricane, leading to massive destruction...
Confluir | The growing movement to protect the Marañón River
- By: Marañón Waterkeeper
- News
Many years in the making, we are proud to finally release our film Confluir for free to the public. The film directed by Henry Worobec highlights the growing...
New Map Details Extreme Rainfall and Risk of Flooding on Thousands of North Carolina’s Hog and Poultry Facilities
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Analysis of Operations in and nearby Floodplains Reveals the Potential Inundations of Thousands of Waste Cesspools Holding Hundreds of Millions of Gallons...
Analysis Finds Toxic Levels of Arsenic and Selenium in Cape Fear River Following L.V. Sutton Coal Ash Spill
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
A water sample taken from the Cape Fear River following the Sept. 16 coal ash spill at Duke Energy’s Sutton Power Plant had arsenic levels 71 times higher...
Hurricane-Impacted Communities, Allies Challenge Factory Farm Pollution Exemption from Federal Emergency Preparedness Law
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Communities, local responders threatened by deadly pollution are being kept in the dark, ill-prepared for emergencies As North Carolina communities grapple...
Stop Army Corps Barriers on the Hudson River | Dive Into Democracy
- By: John Lipscomb
- News
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering plans that would erect massive in-water barriers that would damage the Hudson River Estuary! Your voice...
Analysis Finds Toxic Levels of Arsenic in Neuse River Water Following H.F. Lee Coal Ash Spill
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Water sampling of the Neuse River conducted on behalf of the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance following the coal ash spill at Duke Energy’s...
Conservation groups file lawsuit against transfer of oversight of toxic coal ash dumps from federal government to Oklahoma
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
On behalf of Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Local Environmental Action Demanded (“LEAD Agency”), Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against the U.S....
Huong River Waterkeeper Trains Women to Prevent Flooding
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
The half million people who live in the area along Vietnam’s Tam Giang Lagoon, Southeast Asia’s largest, have been buffeted in recent decades by flooding...
Waterkeepers Document Devastation: Florence in Photos
- By: Lindsey Muzzio
- News
Waterkeeper Alliance and Waterkeeper groups in the Carolinas documented the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Florence. As soon as it was safe to do,...
Waterkeeper responds to the threat of another coal ash pond failure in the wake of Hurricane Florence
- By: Donna Lisenby
- News
Santee Cooper’s Proactive Remediation May Prevent the Severe Contamination Seen at Duke Energy Plants in North Carolina CONWAY, S.C.—Waterkeeper Alliance...
ACE: Assisting Coal Enterprises?
- By: Larissa Liebmann
- News
The deaths, flooding, water contamination, and infrastructure destruction caused by Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut are stark reminders that our...
A Fish Kill on Greenfield Lake
- By: Will Hendrick
- News
For more than a century, Greenfield Lake has been a popular recreation destination just a few miles from historic downtown Wilmington, NC. The 75-acre...
Waterkeeper Calls for Stricter Coal Ash Storage Regulations in the Wake of North Carolina Spills
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
As the massive coal ash spill at Duke Energy’s L.V. Sutton Power Plant contaminates the still-rising Cape Fear River, Waterkeeper Alliance is calling...
In Florence’s Wake, More South Carolina Dams Fail
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has confirmed that eleven dams have failed in the state this week in the wake of Hurricane...
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Statement on Sutton Coal Ash Spill
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
Following a coal ash spill at Duke Energy’s L.V. Sutton Power Plant, Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette assessed the area by motorboat on Friday,...
Waterkeepers Identify Multiple CAFO and Coal Ash Spills Following Hurricane Florence
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Waterkeeper Alliance and Waterkeeper groups across North Carolina have identified multiple releases of pollution from industrial animal operations and...
U.S. insurance companies targeted for risk
- By: Lesley Adams
- News
Amid the bustle of the Global Climate Action Summit last week in San Francisco, and while Waterkeeper Organizations were scrambling to prepare for Hurricane...
Mapping Hurricane Florence
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- Clean Water Defense
With rivers still rising in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, Catawba Riverkeeper Sam Perkins created this story map to give the public a sense of...
Monsters of our own creation
- By: Larissa Liebmann
- News
On two opposite ends of the world, millions are reeling from the impacts of superstorms—terrifying reminders of our warming planet. In North Carolina,...
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Investigating Sutton Coal Ash Release
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette is investigating a coal ash release of unknown size at Duke Energy’s Sutton Power Plant in Wilmington, NC. The release...
Waterkeeper Alliance responds to Sutton coal ash spill
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- Climate And Safe Energy
Following Duke Energy’s disclosure of a coal ash release at its L.V. Sutton Power Station outside Wilmington, N.C. on Sept. 15, 2018, Donna Lisenby,...
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Reports “ongoing failure” at Sutton
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette, who is on site at Duke Energy’s Sutton Power Plant investigating breaches at the Sutton coal ash landfill, reports...
Waterkeeper Alliance offering patrol opportunities in Florence impacted areas
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Waterkeeper Alliance and Waterkeeper groups in the Carolinas are preparing to document the potentially devastating aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Waterkeepers...
Waterkeeper flyovers provide “before” images of N.C. coal ash ponds and animal waste cesspools
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
As Hurricane Florence threatens North Carolina and the southeastern U.S., Waterkeeper Alliance and North Carolina Waterkeeper groups are actively preparing...
Major consumer, climate groups call on insurance industry to ditch fossil fuels
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- Climate And Safe Energy
New campaign Insure Our Future to hold US insurers accountable for a role in climate change as first US insurance company to commit not to invest in coal...